Anything Could Happen
by sksai
Summary: a not-sequel to my previous fic, What Happens At Weddings. Post TIS. All is explained in the A/N inside. (I would like to point out, I wish i could add more characters from VA in the character section (it only gives me bloodlines options) but there's a lot of Christian, Abe, Zoe, and really everyone will all have a decent amount of screen time. The gang's all here!)
1. Fear and Loathing in Palm Springs

**A/N: I know A/Ns are long and boring but this one is (kind of) important.** Because this story is a little weird. I'll try to keep my explanation concise as possible. Okay, so it's post TIS (which means everything that happened in TIS has happened in this timeline) BUT it's also post What Happens At Weddings, which is a short little fic I wrote before TIS came out.

Why are you doing this, you may ask? Mainly because I wanted to write a post TIS story, but I wanted to include some of the foundation I built up in my own head. Namely: Sydney and Christian's unlikely friendship, among a few other things, but I really feel the Sydney/Christian brotp, and I know a lot of my readers do as well, and fanfiction is the only place to nurse those feels! So I know that might be confusing, like, what happened, what didn't happen, did both stories kind of sort of happen but not? And the only way I can think to explain it is,

like, you know in that episode of Once Upon A Time, after the curse has just been broken and all the fairytale characters are collectively having crippling identity crises, and then Charming/David gets up in front of everyone and is like "Yo! We're our fairytale identities AND our Storybrooke counterparts. We are both." (I'm paraphrasing).

This story is kind of like that. It's both. I don't consider this to be "my version" of what I think will happen in the Fiery Heart or anything. It's just post TIS and post WHAW. I hope that makes sense? And no, reading my previous story isn't really necessary to "get" this one. There are **TIS spoilers** abound, though, so ye be warned! And above everything, I hope you enjoy the story. :)

* * *

_Les hommes ont oublié cette vérité, dit le renard. Mais tu ne dois pas l'oublier. Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé. __(Men have forgotten this truth, said the fox. But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.) __- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petit Prince_

Sydney Sage was not going to have an emotional breakdown. After everything she'd been through recently, she didn't suppose anyone would really blame her if she did. She'd narrowly avoided an untimely death (again). She'd become the unwitting mother of a callistana, a type of demon, that took the form of a small dragon. She'd let relative strangers inject a foreign substance into her skin, the ingredients of which had "broken" her alchemist tattoo. It was still there, but it was inactive. It meant she was no longer compelled to not speak of vampires, and honestly? Who knew what else the tattoo had been compelling her to do. She had to admit she felt inexplicably more...free...after she'd broken the tattoo. And now when she put makeup over it, as she often did, it was so easy to believe it had never been there at all. She caught herself catching her own reflection more than once, just her bare face, no tattoo branding her to anyone or anything. It was a good feeling.

Zoe, on the other hand, was on the brink of tears on her first day of school, when Sydney came at her with a glob of foundation on a cosmetic sponge.

"Why do we have to cover it up?" she had whined, bringing a hand up to her face protectively. It made Sydney's stomach turn, seeing her so attached to the very thing Sydney didn't want her to be.

"I don't like it either," Sydney had lied gently. "But people at school have seen my tattoo, if you show up with the exact same one, people will ask too many questions you won't know how to answer-"

"I'm not stupid," her little sister had countered. "I know what to say."

"It doesn't matter, Zoe. You could be the world's greatest liar and people would still be suspicious. You just got here. Do you really want to be the reason our cover gets blown?"

Sydney hadn't liked playing on her sister's ferocious need to please the Alchemists, but as disturbing and upsetting as it was, it proved to be a handy way to get her to do what she wanted.

That was another reason Sydney could -but would not- have an emotional breakdown. Her sister being in Palm Springs was like something out of her nightmares. She never wanted this life for Zoe. She was prepared to give up the things she wanted most in the world just to assure it would never happen. And now here she was, tattooed and ready to fight the good fight. She couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of divine punishment for everything she'd been doing. The magic, the tattoo-breaking, and...Adrian.

The best thing that had come out of all this madness was Adrian. He was hers now. And she was his. She sort of had the feeling it had always been that way, but there'd been so many things clouding her vision. She could see it clearly now. He had called her his flame in the dark. Well, he was hers too.

Unfortunately, Zoe's arrival had hosed down the flame of their kindling new relationship. Zoe tried to put on a good front, but Sydney could tell she was terrified. She was clinging to Sydney every second, and while Sydney loved her sister fiercely and wanted to spend as much time as possible with her, it meant seeing less of Adrian. In the two weeks since Zoe had been in Palm Springs she'd scarcely had a few minutes alone with Adrian. And spirit dreams were out of the question for the time being. Adrian had been using spirit entirely too much lately, and though he was willing to push himself for her, Sydney had put her foot down. She could tell the negative effects were wearing on him. He was on a spirit diet until further notice. So, the last two weeks had been filled with many longing glances and overly dramatic text messages. Adrian had threatened to take his own life more than once, but it was hard to take him seriously when he used an acronym to do so.

Sydney liked to think she was taking all of this in stride. It was a trait that she, as much as she didn't particularly enjoy the fact, took from her father. When bad or unexpected things happened, most people tended to waste an unnecessary amount of time fretting. Not Sydney. Having a breakdown wouldn't solve anything, it wouldn't change the fact that Zoe was an alchemist, or anything else. So instead of wasting time freaking out, she spent what little free time she had brainstorming what could be done to make the situation better.

It had been two weeks. She hadn't come up with anything yet.

* * *

Sydney was fully prepared for another taxing day of holding Zoe's hand through every step of her new job while simultaneously attempting to figure out a solution to the alone time with Adrian problem. She'd already tried pawning Zoe off on Jill, explaining to her that Jill was the primary focus of the mission and that she'd do well to keep an eye on her. Zoe had combated with the fact that Jill had two guardians now and that her job was to make sure Sydney felt less outnumbered by all the scary Dhampirs and Moroi that were running amok. Sydney couldn't count how many times she'd mentally kicked herself for using that excuse on Stanton. But she told herself it probably didn't matter. Zoe was here to watch her. Whether Zoe herself realized that or not, to Sydney that message was clear.

"You should at least be cordial," Sydney had said. "Make an effort to get to know Jill and the others."

Zoe had just stared at her blankly. "Why on Earth would I want to do that?"

"Because it's only polite." Sydney had snapped. Her sister's blatant indoctrination was almost painful to witness. The way she kept a stiff, haughty posture around everyone and rattled off Alchemist creeds like an automated disciple. There was a coldness to her Sydney didn't recognize and yet found strangely familiar. She eventually realized it was herself she saw in her young sister. Well, the person she used to be. It was not a pleasant realization.

Even with Sydney's nagging, Zoe kept all the vampires at more than an arm's length, barely speaking to any of them unless they spoke to her first. And even when she did she kept her responses monosyllabic. Adrian, bless his heart, had tried his best to win her over every time they were in the same area. At first Sydney had thought it might be working, but when they were alone and Sydney inquired casually about what Zoe thought of Adrian, she'd simply said, "Not much. He seems obnoxious. But he's a Royal, so I suppose that's to be expected."

So there was no reason for Sydney to believe today was going to be much different. She was soon to be proven wrong, however, when a loud ringing in her ears jolted her awake. She reached sleepily over to the alarm on her nightstand to turn it off. When the ringing didn't stop, she blinked in confusion. It took her a few moments to realize it was her phone, not the alarm, that was the source of the ringing. She glanced at the clock and her confusion increased. Who would be calling her at 5 AM? She grabbed for her phone but she'd been too late, the voicemail had already picked up. She looked over to Zoe's bed. She was still fast asleep. Sydney rolled her eyes. Sydney had arranged for Zoe to move into a separate room with a random roommate, but Zoe had gone all teary and begged to stay with Sydney. Sydney had tried every guilt trip in the book, but eventually it was decided that Jill would move out and take a new room with Angeline. It wasn't fair at all to Jill, which seemed to be a common theme as of late, but to her credit she took it with grace, assuring Sydney that she understood and it wasn't a big deal.

Sydney looked down at her phone to see if the caller had left a message. They hadn't. She didn't recognize the number. Frowning, she slipped quietly out of bed and into the hallway, as to not wake her sister. She dialed the unknown number back curiously. Who could it be? Stanton had had the same number for years, and if it was any other Alchemist related business they certainly would have left a message for her. So, who did that leave? Who was the type to call at such an inconvenient hour, mysteriously without leaving a message? Her frown deepened and her mind immediately went to Marcus, the ex-alchemist she'd recently come to know. If he was calling to try and change her mind about running away to Mexico, he was wasting his time. She'd made her choice. He needed to respect that.

The ringing cut short and a surprising, yet unmistakable voice filled her ear. "Sydney! I was just about to call you again. My sincerest apologies if I've woken you. It's quite early there, yes?"

Sydney sighed heavily. "What do you want, Zmey?"

Abe Mazur chuckled heartily. "Always were a no-nonsense kind of girl. I like that in a woman!"

"I'm sure you do," Sydney replied dryly.

"Anyway," he breezed on. "I'm in need of a small favor."

Sydney scoffed. She'd been through too much. It was too early. She was not about to deal with this on top of everything else. "My debt to you has been long since paid, last time I checked. And if you're going to bring up Keith-"

"This has nothing to do with that." Abe cut her off briskly. "I'm simply calling on behalf of Mrs. Tanner."

Sydney was about to ask who he was talking about, but soon remembered that was Mikhail's last name. "Sonya?" she asked, just to be certain.

"The very same." Abe replied.

"Okay," Sydney said, crossing an arm across her chest. "Then what does Sonya need?"

"She and Dimitri will be arriving in Palm Springs shortly."

That snapped Sydney to attention. "What?"

"Their plane will be arriving at eight." Abe went on as if Sydney hadn't said anything.

"Wait." Sydney clutched her head. "They're coming here? Today? What for? And why wasn't anyone here informed of this until now?"

"Ah, well it was all done in a bit of a hurry." Abe said. "Sonya thinks she's discovered some new breakthroughs in regard to her study of spirit." That perked Sydney's ears up. "She wanted to test them out as soon as possible. And the queen is rather busy at the moment, you see. So, the next best candidate is the young Mr. Ivashkov. I assume he's still close by?"

Sydney blinked, attempting to process everything Abe was saying. "Yes."

Sydney's heart swelled with the possibilities of this new development. What if the breakthrough Abe spoke of would allow Adrian to use spirit more often without the inevitable backlash? Even if the breakthrough was just something small, like a new way to quiet the stirrings of insanity Adrian was plagued with from time to time, anything that would help Adrian in any way brought Sydney immense joy.

"Why is Dimitri coming?" Sydney asked curiously.

"Just to be on the safe side," Abe said. "Mr. Tanner was otherwise occupied, but he didn't want Sonya travelling alone. Ah, love..." Abe sighed wistfully, then his voice returned to business mode. "So you'll be able to pick them up when they arrive? It's through a private airport, or they'd be able to find other means of transportation. Plus, it's always nice to be greeted in a new place by a familiar face, don't you think?"

Sydney sighed. "I can't."

Abe was silent for a moment. "Pardon me?" He seemed genuinely surprised she was refusing.

"I would if I could," Sydney sighed. "But unfortunately I don't have any transportation of my own these days. My car was totaled."

Abe gasped. "Was there an accident?"

She rolled her eyes, not wanting to get into this. "A random act of vandalism."

"That's terrible." Abe's said. "I suppose you can't..."

Technically she supposed she_ could _be able to pick them up. She didn't have Latte anymore, a sad fact that still brought about a deep ache in her chest, but Adrian had given her a copy of the key to The Ivashkinator and told her it was hers to drive whenever she needed it. If she agreed to do this, she'd have take the bus to his apartment to get the car. And she'd have to call the school and explain her absence. And she'd have to wake up Adrian and...

Realization hit Sydney like a crashing wave. Adrian. She'd have to go to his apartment to get the car. Adrian. Adrian would be alone in his apartment. Adrian. And then when she got there. Adrian. They'd be alone together. And after they picked up Sonya and Dimitri they could spend the day together. The thought alone made Sydney's chest squeeze.

Abe was still muttering something about people today and their lack of respect when Sydney cut him off. "I'll do it."

"What's that?" Abe asked, slightly dazed from his bumbling tangent.

"I can pick them up." Sydney said. "Adrian has a car, I can use his."

"Oh, I wasn't aware Adrian had a car of his own. I suppose I can just ask him-"

"No!" Sydney said a little too fiercely. She cleared her throat and tried to sound casual. "I mean. It's really no problem. Adrian's never awake this early, anyway."

"As long as you're certain," Abe drawled. "I really wouldn't want to put you out."

Sydney resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. "Thanks for your concern, but like I said, I can do it."

Abe continued to spew out some more metaphorical schmooze that Sydney could only loosely interpret as him thanking her for the favor. She was lucky she was able to make out the address she'd need to be at and memorize it. She gave him a polite goodbye and slipped back inside her room, unable to stop herself from grinning like an idiot. She was going to get to be alone with Adrian. Finally.

Her overwhelming glee was cut short when she looked up and saw she was face to face with a now wide awake Zoe.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing," Sydney forced a cool expression onto her face. "What are you doing up?"

"I heard you talking," her sister rubbed at her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Sydney said again, realizing she completely forgot she'd have to explain what she was going to do to Zoe. "I've been roped into picking up Dimitri Belikov and Sonya Ka-Tanner," she readjusted the name quickly, "They're going to be in town for a little while."

Zoe's face paled. "What?"

Sydney ignored her sister's horrified expression and started pulling out clothes to dress herself for the day. She shrugged. "Sonya's been doing a lot of research about spirit and how it affects those who can wield it. Adrian is a spirit user. She uses him as a test subject every now and then."

She didn't have to turn to look at Zoe to know her expression had probably gone from horrified to downright flabbergasted. She was preparing what were hopefully sound reasons why she was the one who was going to pick them up, but Zoe's next question took her by surprise.

"Didn't they both used to be Strigoi?"

Sydney spun around to face Zoe. "Yes," she said evenly. "They're not anymore, though. And it's spirit that brought them back, so..." she trailed off, not really knowing where she was going with that thought.

Zoe's expression darkened. "I don't think you should be alone with them. I'm coming with you."

Sydney's eyes widened. She couldn't help but feel a tiny surge of pride at her little sister's bravery. If only it wasn't so awfully misplaced.

She sighed. "I appreciate the offer, Zo. But I'll be fine. And you have school."

Zoe snorted. "So you get to skip and I don't?"

"I've already graduated, Zoe. I'm only posing as a student for our cover story. You, on the other hand, need to take your education seriously."

Zoe crossed her arms. "This is so unfair."

"What's unfair is the fact that I requested actual back up and got stuck with my little sister," Sydney made sure to look pointedly at Zoe so she'd know she was teasing. She hadn't meant to request back up at all, and Zoe being that unwanted back up was literally the worst thing that could have happened, but Zoe didn't know that.

"I am actual back up!" Zoe's voice took on a shrill tone.

"Could have fooled me," Sydney shrugged. "The entire time you've been here you've done nothing but play my shadow. Not much point in there being two of us here if we're always in the same place."

Zoe huffed, throwing the covers off of her legs and standing up. Sydney couldn't help but notice how slender they were. She used to envy her sister's tiny frame, but looking at her now all she saw was how vulnerable she looked. How frail. She'd do well to gain a few pounds. Strengthen up those baby muscles.

"You are such a brat," Zoe spat at her, "I don't want to go with you, anyway."

"Well that's good," Sydney said simply, slipping off her sleep shorts and stepping into a crisp pair of jeans. "Because you're not."

"How are you going to get to them?" Zoe asked. Sydney winced. Here came the hard hitting questions.

"I'm going to drive, of course." Sydney said, pointedly ignoring what her sister's question implied.

Zoe scoffed. "With what car?"

"Adrian's," Sydney answered, pulling her t shirt over her head and sliding on a slim fit tank top.

"Oh my gosh!" Zoe screeched.

Sydney turned sharply. "What?" her heart was pounding. Her brain dove instantly into paranoia land,where in one second Zoe had figured out about the nature of Sydney and Adrian's relationship.

"That top!" Zoe's cheeks reddened, a vaguely disgusted look on her face. "Your...your chest is like, popping out of that."

Sydney looked toward the full length mirror that hung on the wall and was surprised to see her sister was right. She knew this top was tight but she didn't think it was...this tight. She was even more surprised that she actually liked the way it looked on her. It made her feel confident and bold. It reminded her of something Rose would wear. She smiled softly at her reflection, then turned to Zoe. "I'm going to put a blazer on top of it, genius."

"You better button it up all the way." Zoe mumbled, shaking her head.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?" Sydney asked, just to annoy her.

"Wait," Zoe strode toward her, hands on her hips. "You're taking Lord Ivashkov's car?" Despite Sydney's insistence, Zoe refused to address Adrian or Jill informally.

"Yes." Sydney said, keeping her voice emotionless.

"Isn't that...weird?" Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"Why would it be weird?" Sydney asked, swallowing nervously. "I don't have a car right now and Adrian gave me permission to use his until I can remedy that situation."

"I know, but..." Zoe hesitated and Sydney's brain threatened to take another trip to paranoia land. "It's just weird. I mean. This whole thing...being around all these Moroi and Dhampirs. It's just weird."

Sydney put an arm around her sister, trying to remember what it felt like to be in her shoes. It was very strange to think that she'd once felt a strong aversion to the people who now meant more to her than the Alchemists she was supposed to be devoted to.

"You get used to it." Sydney said, reassuringly rubbing Zoe's shoulder.

"I don't want to get used to it." Zoe said with a vehemence that surprised Sydney. "I'll never be like you, Sydney. I don't know how you do it. You act so normal around them. I know you're just acting but...you're so good at it. I can't even stand to be in the same room with them. It makes my skin crawl. And I have to pretend to be _related to them_." her voice broke and she turned to look Sydney in the eyes. "I don't think I can do this."

Sydney felt a horrible pang in her chest. It was so unbelievably frustrating to see her sister like this. She wished there was a way she could just gather up all the poisonous propaganda the Alchemists had filled her head with and dissolve it into thin air. She took a deep breath, trying not to let her anger at what they'd done to her sister overwhelm her.

"Zoe, listen." Sydney took her by the shoulder and turned her so they were fully facing each other. "You can do this. Not just because you have to, or because it's expected of you, but because you're my sister. And I know you. You're strong, you're smart, you're more than capable of anything you set your mind to. And you _can_ do this. I was just as scared as you were when I started this mission." That wasn't entirely true, but what was another little white lie on top of everything else? "But I just told myself to get over it. And that's what you have to do too. This is your job. Our job. Do you understand?"

Zoe nodded solemnly. "I just-"

"No excuses," Sydney told her firmly. "You've had two weeks to get settled in, Zoe. That's long enough. Starting today, no more shadowing me."

Zoe opened her mouth to protest, but Sydney shot her a look and she closed it again. "I need you today, Zoe. I'm going to be away for a good portion of the day. That means keeping track of things around here is up to you. Got it?"

Zoe took a shaky breath, then nodded. "I got it." she whispered.

Sydney smiled. "You'll be fine." She got up and went to the bathroom, running a brush through her hair quickly and opting out of doing anything with make up. When she returned Zoe was still morosely staring off into the distance. She sighed. "Zoe? You okay?"

Zoe nodded wordlessly.

"I'm counting on you." Sydney said, as she made her way to the door. She felt a little bit bad about leaving her on her own like this, but no one had been there to wade Sydney gently into the sea of vampires when she got to Palm Springs. She'd been pushed head first in the deep end. If Sydney was ever going to get Zoe away from the Alchemists, she had to take it one step at a time. She considered this step one.

"Wait!" Zoe called, and Sydney halted with her hand on the doorknob as she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to find Zoe giving her a smirk, holding out a light gray wad of fabric. "You forgot to put a jacket on, _genius_."

She rolled her eyes and slipped her arms through the blazer. "What would I do without you?" She teased.

Zoe's eyes were wide and serious. "Be careful," she whispered.

Sydney sighed. "I'll be fine, Zoe. I told you. They're not Strigoi anymore."

"Yeah, but they're still..._them_." Zoe shuddered and Sydney felt her anger starting to boil up again. Not at Zoe, but at the Alchemists. At their father. She knew what this was. Zoe being there. This was a message...to remind Sydney of who had the power and who didn't. If that's how they wanted to play it, that was fine with Sydney. They had no idea want kind of power she had or what games _she_ could play.

She gave her sister a small smile and opened the door to leave. She turned back for a moment to say, "Don't forget to cover up your tattoo."

* * *

The bus ride to Adrian's apartment felt excruciatingly long. She could have called him and asked him to pick her up, but she seriously doubted he'd be awake at this hour. Plus, she wanted to surprise him. Getting out of Amberwood had been a bit tricky. She was going to just call the school's office and feign sickness, but then she'd have no chance getting past Mrs. Weathers. So instead she had decided to go with the old favorite "family emergency" excuse. She wasn't sure if Amberwood was just run by the most non-suspecting people in the world, or if she had become a disturbingly talented liar, or a mixture of both, but the main point was that she got out of there without too much of a hassle.

When she finally arrived, she was dizzy with excitement. It felt surreal. It had been so long she'd been over to his place by herself and the thought of being able to wrap her arms around him, hold him, kiss him, made her entire body thrum with nervous energy She practically ran to his door, fishing his spare key that he'd given her out of her pocket to let herself in. His apartment was dark and quiet. All at once she felt a little creepy, but desperate times called for desperate measures. She tiptoed into his bedroom and nearly gushed at the sight of him sprawled out in his bed, sleeping deeply.

She'd caught herself wondering on several occasions what Adrian wore to bed. She was very disappointed to find him seemingly clothed. But the way his dark v neck t shirt hugged his pale, lean shoulders and chest almost made up for the lack of nudity. Unbuttoning her blazer and draping it over the edge of the bed, she smirked and crawled as quietly as she possibly could over his sleeping form, making sure to hold her weight up so she was hovering over him. Then, she let herself drop, wrapping her arms around him almost violently.

His body jerked in surprise, his eyes snapping open to reveal those beautiful emerald irises she loved so much. He blinked those lovely eyes in confusion, looking up at her like she was an impossible thing.

"Sage?" His voice was scratchy from sleep.

She giggled, bringing her lips to his ear. She kissed him there. "Good morning." she whispered.

He was still disoriented, blinking and looking around, as if trying to spot something amiss."What are you d-" he started to say, but she cut him off by pressing her lips softly to his.

It took him a moment but soon his hands were in her hair, his lips moving passionately against hers. The thickness of the blanket between her body and his was torturous. She needed the warmth of his skin against hers. She made a small sound of annoyance and he pulled away, his hands drifting from the back of her head down her back and she shivered. She rolled over and wormed her way under the blanket, snuggling against him. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. He was warm. And he smelled like home.

He rubbed her back dazedly. "Am I dreaming?" he murmured.

She smiled against his skin, pulling back slightly so she could kiss his neck. She opened her mouth and sucked softly on his skin, using her teeth to bite down gently as she did so.

Adrian's head fell back and he groaned, his hold on her tightening. "I _am_ dreaming."

After a few moments she trailed soft kisses up to his ear and paused to whisper. "That's payback."

"Mean." Adrian grumbled, chuckling. He shifted their bodies until they were face to face. She smiled, nudging his nose with hers. His hands slid down her sides and the thrill of his touch made her sigh. She had no idea how she'd survived the past two weeks. Or how she'd survive another moment without him this close, always.

"I missed you," she mumbled into his chest.

"Missed you more." he said, giving her a squeeze.

"Not possible." she shook her head, squeezing him back.

"I did," he insisted, squeezing her harder. She laughed and then he laughed and then they fell silent, just breathing against each other. For a little while she let herself imagine they were just two people, a normal girl and a normal boy, who did normal things like cuddle in bed and fight over who missed who more.

Adrian's voice soon broke her out of her daydream. "Not that I'm complaining, but what exactly are you doing here?"

She gave him a wounded look. "I have to have a reason?"

He smirked. "No," His gaze drifted downward and his eyes widened. "Especially not in that top."

She rolled her eyes and turned away from him. "Figures."

"Hey," he whined, cuddling up to her from behind, snaking his arms around her waist. He brought his lips to her ear. "I'm glad you're here. I just figured if you were here at this time, there must be a specific reason. Or something's wrong." His arms tensed. "Is something wrong?"

"Besides the fact that this is the first time we've been properly alone since Zoe got here, not really."

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Sydney said, searching for his hands and threaded her fingers through his. "It's not your fault. If it's anyone's fault it's mine. Zoe wouldn't be here if I hadn't opened my stupid mouth to Stanton."

Adrian kissed her shoulder. "Well, she is here. What's been done is done, so there's no use beating yourself up over it." he trailed kisses across her back. "Besides, it's probably better to have Zoe with you than with them. If she was back home they'd just be filling her head with more and more bullshit every day. Being around you, and all of us, will be good for her."

She turned to face him, smiling. "Since when are you so glass-half-full?"

He brought a hand up to cup her face and the intensity of his gaze made her breath catch. "I have a lot to be optimistic about these days."

And then they were kissing again. Her arms went around his neck. His hands fell to her waist. Every time his lips touched hers a zip of electricity shot through her. He pulled away briefly to smile at her.

She frowned, pouting her bottom lip slightly. "I can't believe I didn't get to kiss you on New Year's." She'd never really celebrated the holiday before. It was mostly just an excuse for lavish parties and getting excessively drunk. The Alchemists weren't big on either of those things. Adrian happened to be big on both, so she had been looking forward to having fun with him. And kissing him at midnight. Neither of those things happened. She was stuck babysitting Zoe and all she got were silly text drunk text messages from him all night.

He chuckled. "You're still upset about that?"

"Yes!" she whined. "Aren't you?"

He shook his head. "I'm finding it hard to be upset at much of anything, to be honest. I mean, we're still figuring out how we're going to make this work with Zoe here and all, but...you're with me." He stroked her arm. "You're mine." He looked at her and smirked. "Tell you what, I'll make it up to you next New Year's."

She moved her body against his in a way she could only hope was inviting. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pulled his face close to hers. "Make it up to me now."

"You shouldn't say things like that when you're in my bed." His voice was rough.

She bit her lip, grinning. "Why not?"

He rolled on top of her, smiling devilishly. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

She snorted. "Are you implying that I should be frightened?"

He pressed his weight on top of her, a sensation in which she delighted in. He brought his face inches from hers. "You used to be scared of me," he teased, his voice a low whisper.

She laughed. "Well, in my defense you were very scary."

"Oh yeah?" He gave her what she assumed was an attempt at a menacing glare. "How's this?"

"Terrifying." she breathed, reaching up to trace the outline of his jaw.

"There's something you should know about me," he took a deep breath, leaning in close to her to whisper, "I'm a vampire."

He made a sort of growling sound, which Sydney found infinitely sexier than anything else she'd experienced in life prior to that moment.

"Oh no...what are you going to do to me?" she asked with wide eyes, still playing along with the idea that he was 'scary'.

"Hmm, I don't know..." he mused, cocking his head to the side. "Maybe some of this," he gently brought his lips to hers. "And a little of this," he kissed from her lips to her neck and she eagerly titled her head back, giving him more access to her throat. She loved the way it felt to have him kiss her there. His lips stayed there for awhile, teasing her, then started playfully gnawing on her skin with his lips and gums and making obnoxiously loud chomping noises.

"What are you doing?!" she squealed, wriggling violently underneath him. She gasped for breath. "That tickles!"

She didn't realize until much later how inappropriate what he was doing was. Well, the old Sydney would have thought it was more than inappropriate. She would have been terrified. A vampire's mouth on her neck. That was the worst thing she could have imagined. She certainly wouldn't have found any amusement in such a disgusting thing. But the Sydney that was currently thrashing around futilely as her boyfriend continued to slobber all over her neck was giggling like a lunatic, pushing at his chest half-heartedly because even though she was equally annoyed as she was amused, she didn't really want him to stop. He was just being silly, anyway. He'd never actually bite her. She knew that. Well, not unless she wanted him to. But that was irrelevant, because she didn't. And wouldn't.

When she finally managed to push him off of her, she smacked his shoulder. "You're ridiculous."

His smile was as gorgeous as it was infuriating. "I love you, too."

"Gross!" she hissed, reaching up to wipe his saliva off her skin. She then wiped her hand down the front of Adrian's shirt.

"Hey!" he whined, clearly distraught to have his most likely outrageously expensive t shirt sticky with spit.

"That's what you get." Sydney shook her head.

"I think I got you better, though." Adrian smirked.

"I'll get you back eventually."

"Oh, really?" he raised his eyebrows.

"I'm still waiting to have my awful New Year's Eve made up to me," she sighed, bringing her hand up to her face, checking an imaginary watch.

He clasped a hand around her wrist and held it there for a moment. Then grabbed for her other hand and brought of her arms up and above her head, pinning them to the bed. Her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. She blinked up at him, her cheeks flushing. He just grinned. She wondered if he liked having this effect on her. He lowered his mouth to hers, very softly. His kiss remained soft, too soft, for her liking. She ached to wrap her arms around his neck and force him closer, but his hands were still pinning hers down. Her fingers wound around his, squeezing and pushing against him, but he remained firm. She was powerless. She never thought lack of control could feel so... exhilarating. Since she couldn't use her hands to pull him close, she craned her neck upward, pushing her mouth roughly against his. He leaned back slightly, not breaking the contact but still not allowing her the satisfaction. She groaned against his mouth. He was supposed to be making her kissless New Year's up to her, not teasing her. She caught hold of his bottom lip with her teeth and bit down. She'd meant for it to be unpleasant but he made that sexy growling sound again and finally relented, pressing his mouth completely against hers. His hands released hers and he slid his fingers down her arms and across her shoulders until his hands encircled her neck. Once freed, her hands immediately darted underneath his shirt, caressing his lean-muscled abdomen. They kissed like that for awhile, until they were lost in each other. His hands slid down her torso and she was grateful for the thin material of the tank top. She realized all at once she wouldn't mind if he took it off her. If his fingers on her bare skin had felt as good as they did in the spirit dream they'd shared, she couldn't even imagine how good they would feel in real life. She pushed her body forward until she was in an almost sitting position, hands on Adrian's chest, lips still locked against his. Reluctantly, she pulled away to tell him what she wanted. Unfortunately in that moment she remembered the reason she had (or well, had used as an excuse to) come over to Adrian's apartment. She gasped.

"What time is it?"

Adrian glanced at the clock on the nightstand behind her. "A little past seven."

"How is that possible?!" Sydney pushed away from Adrian, scrambling out of the bed.

"I think I heard on the History Channel once that the 24 hour day comes from the ancient Egyptians." Adrian flashed her a wicked grin.

Sydney's brain halted mid panic. "What were you doing watching the History Channel?"

Adrian shrugged, rolling out of bed and stretching. "It helps me sleep, sometimes."

Sydney blinked at him, then shook her head. "Anyway-"

"Did you know that they even found these coffins with clocks painted on the inside of the lids? So the mummies could tell time?" Adrian cackled. "The ancient Egyptians were nuts!"

Sydney bit her lip, trying not to smile. She walked toward him, snaking her arms around his neck. "Your extensive knowledge of ancient cultures is very impressive, for someone using educational material as a sleeping pill."

Adrian beamed. "Yeah, some might say I'm a quick study."

Sydney scoffed loudly. "You're still not over that?"

Adrian shook his head. "I'll never be over it." He leaned in to kiss her but she pushed him away.

"No, no, we can't-we have to go!"

"Go?" Adrian pulled back, confused. "Go where?"

"To pick up Sonya and Dimitri." Sydney sighed.

Adrian scrunched up his face. "Do what now?"

Sydney rapidly summarized the situation that was at hand while locating her blazer and slinging it back on over her tank top.

Adrian shook his head. "Sage, I can't go."

Sydney gaped at him. "What do you mean? Why not?"

He frowned. "I have an art class."

"This early?"

"It's actually more of a workshop...sort of thing..." Adrian looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, it's not mandatory but I signed up for...well my teacher did, thought it would be something I'd um...you know...enjoy." He coughed, seemingly embarrassed. "Usually you have to pay for it, but my teacher knows the guy who's running it so she got me in...or you know...whatever. You know what? Never mind. It's stupid-"

"No no no no," Sydney rushed forward, taking his hand in hers. "It's not stupid at all. That's...that's great. I'm excited for you."

He rolled his eyes. "Nothing to be excited about, Sage. It's just an art class."

"Well, I'm still excited." Sydney brought her hand up to his face, forcing him to look at her. "Your art is important."

He brought his hand up as well, stroking her cheek. "Not as important as spending time with you."

She smiled, leaning forward to bump his forehead with hers. "Don't skip it. I'll figure something out. What time is your class?"

Adrian pecked her lips softly. "Nine."

Sydney sighed. "I have to be at this address Abe gave me at eight." She looked up at him, pouting slightly. "Would it be okay if I dropped you off at your class early?"

"You want me to wait around like a loser for almost two hours before people start to show up?" Adrian was incredulous. "All the other kids will make fun of me. And steal my lunch money."

Sydney scoffed, then narrowed her eyes. "I'll beat them up."

"There's a good ice breaker," Adrian said. "Don't mess with me or my girlfriend will throw a fireball at you."

"Or sic Hopper on them," Sydney suggested. "How is he, by the way?" After Zoe's arrival Sydney had managed to sneak Hopper to Adrian's apartment for safe keeping. The last thing she needed was her little sister waking up one day to find a demon-dragon in her bed.

"Miserable," Adrian sighed heavily. "I've been feeding him just like you told me. But I think he misses his mother. I know the feeling."

The double meaning of Adrian's last sentence made Sydney's heart hurt. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. "We can spend some quality family time together after your class today."

Adrian squeezed back. "Never thought I'd hear those words uttered to me in the same sentence," he laughed. "But that sounds good. We can all cuddle up on the couch and watch the History Channel."

She laughed, arms still tight around him.

"I can take the bus to my class," Adrian said after a moment. "You take the car."

Sydney pulled back. "You don't have to do that, Adrian."

He shrugged. "I don't really mind. It sort of puts me in the right mood, you know? Makes me feel like a grungy art student in an independent film. The bus is a metaphor for the life that's passing me by, or something."

Sydney shook her head at him. "You're really too much, you know that?"

"I know," he drawled, throwing his head back dramatically. "Sick of me yet?"

She gave him a serious look. "Never."

Adrian chuckled. "Good, because I don't want to put little Hopper through a messy divorce, especially at his tender age."

"What time is your class over?" Sydney asked, ignoring his antics. "I'll come pick you up. Make all the other kids jealous."

"Of my rare vintage car, or of my super hot girlfriend?"

Sydney leaned forward to kiss him, cupping his face with her hands. She pulled away, smirking. "Both."

"Motherhood has done wonders for you," Adrian purred, letting his hands wind around her waist.

"I really do have to get going soon." Sydney said, allowing herself one last small kiss before pulling away from him completely.

"Drive safe," Adrian said, slowly peeling his hands from her body, almost as if it was painful for him to do.

"Have fun at your class." she said, making her way toward the door of his bedroom. "Remember, family time later."

"I'll call or text you when it's over." he said, walking backward and collapsing in a heap onto his bed.

She didn't know how to end the conversation. All she wanted to do was crawl back into the bed and just be close to him. Instead, she forced herself to open the door. "See you," she said lamely.

"Love you," came his reply.

She blushed, his words giving her the strength to keep walking. "You too."

* * *

Sydney Sage was about to have an emotional breakdown.

In the time she'd spent driving from Adrian's apartment to the "private airport" (which turned out to be not even an airport, really, at all.) She'd missed several call from Abe that she refused to answer because she didn't believe in talking on the phone while driving unless it was an emergency. When she got to the "private airport", also known as a large patch of land with no markers or signs anywhere in sight, she punched in Abe's phone number, silently fuming. He'd assured her that she was at the right place and that the plane would be landing any minute, surely. He also took the time to offer some more strange condolences about her late car, Latte. But the real climax of the conversation is when Abe mentioned the people Sydney was to be picking up. And he used the the number three.

"Excuse me?" Sydney gasped. "What do you mean, the three of them?"

Abe paused. "Well, the three passengers on the plane, of course. Sonya, Dimitri, and that other one. Oh, what's his name. Always was terrible with names. Well, not always, but here recently I've-"

"You never mentioned 'that other one' earlier, when I agreed to do this."

"Didn't I?" Abe seemed startled by this accusation.

"No," Sydney said. "You didn't. Is it another guardian for Sonya or what? Another Dhampir?"

"No, no." Abe said. "That Moroi. The one Dimitri's-" his voice cut off abruptly.

Sydney heard muffled talking through the phone and what sounded like a loud crash. A few strangled grunts, and then Abe's voice was back on the line, strained but polite. "Miss Sage, I'm afraid I'll have to call you back. A business matter has come to my attention that I must see to immediately. I'll be in touch."

"Wait!" Sydney yelled, but the called had ended. She groaned loudly, her head falling against the steering wheel in frustration. She didn't know why, but this, on top of everything else, was just too much to deal with. Sydney's main objective was to get Zoe away from the Alchemists. Step one in that plan meant she had to get her to understand that vampires were not the evil creatures the Alchemists made them out to be. She was all for Zoe being exposed to them as much as possible, but there was such a thing as bad culture shock. It would be too much, too soon for her. And Sydney was just starting to realize converting Zoe was going to be a lot harder than she thought. She didn't even know who this other Moroi was, what if he or she was awful? They were no different from humans, in the sense that there were good ones and bad ones. But if they were awful, that tore a gaping hole in Operation Un-brainwash Zoe. It also meant another person who would need blood on a semi-regular basis. _Well_, Sydney thought bitterly, _They can fend for it themselves_.

She was still hanging on to her emotional stability by a thread when, believe it or not, an impossibly small plane closed in on the clearing. Sydney watched in silence as it landed, kicking up a huge plume of dust in its wake, quite a measurable distance from where she was parked. She stared at it for a few seconds. She took a deep breath and started the car, driving up to it so Sonya, Dimitri, and Mystery Moroi wouldn't have to walk to where she was.

She tried to smile when the plane's door opened and Sonya's statuesque figured appeared, smiling brightly. "Ah, Sydney. I see Abe got ahold of you. We didn't put you through any trouble, did we?" she asked as she descended gracefully out of the plane.

Sydney sighed. "Not too much, no. Although I wasn't expecting-"

"Sydney!" A booming voice called from behind Sonya and soon after, Dimitri Belikov appeared before her. He turned back for a moment, saying something inaudible to the pilot of the tiny aircraft. He jumped down from the opening in one swift movement. "It's great to see you again."

"You too," Sydney nodded, looking behind to see who else was travelling with them.

Sonya looked back as well. "Where is he?"

"He's just taking a second," Dimitri winced, looking toward Sydney. "The flight was a bit hard on him."

Sydney found it hard to conjure up any sympathy for this stranger who was ruining her life. "About that, Abe didn't mention that another Moroi would be coming with you guys."

"It's fine," she quickly added, though it wasn't. "I just wondered why."

Dimitri looked puzzled. "Well...I am his guardian, after all."

"Oh," Sydney said. "I didn't know...I thought you were one of Lissa's guardians."

Dimitri shook his head slowly. "I apologize if it's an inconvenience. I knew we shouldn't have relied on Ibrahim to pass the information, but there wasn't a lot of time..."

"Oh no, don't apologize." Sydney said, flustered. "It's not your fault."

Dimitri smirked. "And to be honest, I didn't think you'd mind so much. He was certainly looking forward to seeing you again."

Sydney frowned. "What do you mean? Why would the Moroi you're guarding be interested in seeing me?"

Dimitri and Sonya exchanged a glance. When he spoke again, he was clearly amused. "You mean, you don't know?"

Sydney looked between the two of them, more confused than ever. "Know what?"

Just then, a lanky figure appeared in the plane's doorway, shakily stepping off onto the ground. He dusted himself off, and straightened up, flashing Sydney a dazzling smile.

Sydney's face, mood, and all around outlook on life brightened substantially. She couldn't help herself from springing forward, enveloping the Moroi in a fierce embrace.

"Christian!" she yelped, teetering with him as he staggered from her unexpected tackle.

He wrapped his arms around her, steadying them before they fell, and laughed. It was a wonderful, hopeful sound. "Hey BSB, long time no see."

In that instant Sydney knew he was the answer to her unspoken prayer. He was exactly what she needed in her current state of emotional turmoil a friend. Maybe his being here would prove to be disastrous on the Operation Un-brainwash Zoe front, but as much as Sydney hated to admit it, Abe Mazur had been right. Sometimes it is just nice to see a familiar face.


	2. Sister Act

_I saw the mirror staring back at me_  
_And it told me I'm a self machine_

_It said I gave you these scars_  
_And I gave you these wounds_  
_I told you the false_  
_And I showed you the truth_

_-Self Machine by I Blame Coco_

Zoe Sage was not going to cry. She was not a baby, not anymore, and today was the day she was going to prove that. Her older sister, as much as she loathed to admit it, had been right. She'd been clinging to her for dear life ever since she arrived in Palm Springs, but that was over now. Technically because Sydney had left her barely with so much as a "see ya later, don't screw things up" before running off to collect more monsters for them to deal with. She didn't understand her sister, sometimes. What was it like to be that brave in the face of danger? Zoe was no wimp, but compared to Sydney she felt like one. And here she thought she was the one who'd done all the changing in the time they spent apart. She'd been diligent, she'd been obedient, she'd done everything her father said. She'd worked herself sick preparing for the promotion to be a full time Alchemist. And then she finally got it. She remembered the way her heart had been hammering when she was about to get her tattoo and the overwhelming surge of pride when she got to see herself in the mirror for the first time afterwards. It was beautiful, the tattoo, that is. She didn't want to cover it up. But because Sydney had been here first, and people had already seen hers, she supposed it only made sense for her to do so.

Zoe turned her head to the side, allowing herself one last reverential glance at her shiny new badge of honor, and then very gingerly patted some make up over top of it. When she was finished, she looked at herself again, and frowned. Now she was back to being plain old Zoe. Average ordinary girl. Living in her sister's shadow. She sighed. She loved her sister, Sydney, more than anything. But she also sometimes hated her just a little bit. She was just so...perfect. At everything. She never messed up. She never said the wrong thing. She was their father's favorite. Even when she'd gotten in all that trouble for helping that crazy Dhampir girl, she'd managed to talk her way out of it and come out looking even more perfect than she had before. And seeing her now was like...Zoe didn't know how to explain it. Something was different about her. Sydney had always been a confident person, but now she seemed to be dripping with it. It radiated off of her like invisible beams of light. Even the vampires seemed to enjoy Sydney's presence. They smiled when she spoke to them and even acted downright friendly on more than one occasion Zoe's sister was so perfect in every way that even soulless monsters, who Zoe knew through her teachings hated their kind, didn't mind being around her.

There was a knock at the door and Zoe's heart flipped in her chest. She glanced down at her watch. It was showtime. She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. _You can do this_. She told herself. _You may not be Sydney, but you are a Sage. You can do this. You have to do this. _

She twisted a plastic smile on to her face and walked with purpose to her door, opening it to reveal the Dhampir girl, Angeline, who used to live with the Keepers, a community of vampires and humans who lived among each other. Just thinking about them made her feel dizzy with nausea. And with her, of course, was Princess Jillian Dragomir, the reason any of them were in Palm Springs in the first place.

The princess smiled brightly at her. Zoe noticed she couldn't see her fangs when she smiled. _How vile_, she thought. The way it was so was for her to mask her true nature.

"Good morning, Zoe." she said, looking toward the Dhampir girl uncertainly. She nudged her and Angeline rolled her eyes.

"Morning," she yawned, rubbing at her eyes. Though Dhampirs were only half vampire, which mean they didn't have fangs or drink blood or wield any elements, they were almost worst than the Moroi, in some ways. Not only were they the unholy offspring of vampires and humans, but there was something about them that just seemed so...human. So normal. But they weren't. They were the farthest thing from it. She resisted the urge to shudder.

"Good morning Princess Jillian..." her throat muscles involtunarily tightened. She nodded briefly toward the Dhampir. "Angeline."

"Um...where's Sydney?" The Princess asked, looking behind Zoe.

Of course. Where's Sydney? Everyone's favorite person. Zoe sighed. "Sydney had to pick up Dimitri Belikov and Sonya Tanner from the airport. They're in town to continue Sonya's study of spirit."

"But didn't Sydney's car get totaled?" Angeline asked.

"Yes, she went to Lord Ivashkov's apartment, to pick up his car."

The princess's face lit up. "Oh! No wonder I'm in such a good mood today." she laughed slightly, like she just told a joke.

Angeline turned toward her, one eyebrow raised. "What are you talking about?"

Zoe never thought she'd be agreeing with a Dhampir, but she was just as confused. "Pardon me?" she asked the princess.

There was an odd silence between the three girls. The princess was looking at her wide-eyed, then her bright smile returned. "Uh," she said, blushing slightly. "I'm just really excited to see Dimitri. He's my friend."

"Since when?" Angeline scoffed.

"Since always," the princess cut Angeline a sharp look.

Zoe looked between the two of them, sensing there was something about the conversation she was missing. She shrugged it off, not particularly caring what sort of dramas vampires had among themselves.

"So, um, it's just us today?" the princess asked.

She nodded once. "Yes, I'll be the only Alchemist on duty for today."

Angeline snorted and the princess nudged her again. "That's cool," she said to Zoe. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded again. "Yes, I am." She walked a few steps backwards into her room to pick up her things for school. She had an irrational fear of turning her back when she was around them. They probably wouldn't attack her unprovoked, she knew that. But still, you could never be too careful.

The rest of the day went by quite smoothly, that was until lunch time, as Zoe walked aimlessly through the courtyard, not sure where she should sit. There weren't any empty tables. She didn't really know anyone at school yet. Usually she sat with Sydney and her friends, Kristin and Julia. But she didn't see either of those girls, plus it would be awkward and lame to sit with them without Sydney present.

She suddenly felt a wave of emotions rush over her. Annoyance at her sister for leaving her by herself like this, embarrassment that she hadn't made any friends herself yet, and panic because she didn't know what she should do.

"Zoe!" A voice called loudly from behind her. "Hey, Zoe! Over here!"

She spun around and saw Princess Jillian standing on the bench of a table with her hands cupped around her mouth. She smiled when she saw Zoe looking at her. "Come sit with us!" she called, waving her arms wildly.

She swallowed. What would be worse? Eating lunch on the ground by herself? Or sitting with a group of unholy creatures? She debated this predicament over in her head for a minute, then walked with numb legs over to the princess and the rest of the vampires that came with her. Namely, Angeline. And her two guardians, Eddie and Neil. She noticed there was someone else with them, a red-headed boy who looked to be about her sister's age. She wondered what a human boy was doing hanging out with them. _She couldn't leave him to fend for himself_, she thought to justify her actions.

She paused when she reached the group, unsure of where to sit down. Panic spiked through her again.

The human boy scooted closer to Princess Jillian. He patted the empty spot next to him. She could have genuflected right then and there. She hurriedly plopped down next to him, grateful she wouldn't be sandwiched between any of the vampires.

"Nice to meet you," he flashed her a brilliant white smile. "I'm Micah."

"Likewise," She stuck her hand out immediately for him to shake. "I'm Zoe S-" she stopped mid sentence, "Melrose."

"I heard there was another Melrose running around," Micah shook his head, laughing. "Is today your first day?"

"No," Zoe spoke uncertainly. "I just um, I usually sit with my sister, Sydney, and her friends but Sydney had to take care of um, some family stuff today." She tried to smile.

Micah paused, throwing a curious glance toward the princess. "I thought you said she was your cousin."

Oh no. Zoe had forgotten. She was here under the pretense of being Sydney's cousin. It didn't make any sense, nor was it fair, that the vampire princess got to say she was Sydney's sister and Zoe didn't. She opened her mouth to amend her statement, but the princess was already speaking for her.

"Zoe was basically raised with us, she's totally like one of our sisters." she shrugged. "You know how it is, it's a girl thing."

Micah turned back to Zoe, his smile making a second appearance. "Ah, I get it. Well, we're glad to have you here at Amberwood. You liking your classes so far?"

She shrugged. "They're alright, I suppose. It's certainly interesting to be in classes with different teachers and other people. It's vastly different from my experience in homeschooling, but the curriculum overall leaves quite a bit to be desired."

Micah just stared at her. Across from him, one of the princess's guardians, Eddie, snorted.

She looked back and forth between them as they exchanged an amused glance.

"Did I say something funny?" she asked.

Eddie smiled at her. "It's just...you sounded exactly like Sydney, just then."

"Yeah," Micah agreed. "It's uncanny."

She stared back at him, not knowing how to respond.

"It's a compliment," Micah added, elbowing her gently. She suppressed a blush.

"Thank you," she mumbled, looking away. Being compared to her sister was not something Zoe was unfamiliar with. But it wasn't usually in a positive light.

The conversation drifted to other things. The boys dove into a conversation about a teacher they all found particularly grating. The princess and Angeline were giggling about some mean girl's tragic hairstyle. She caught Angeline looking Eddie's way a few times, then whispering closely to the princess. Eddie seemed to be pointedly ignoring her. She was taken aback by how...normal it was. She watched them all, talking and interacting, just about normal, everyday things. It was the strangest thing in the world. Because they weren't normal. They weren't human. Well, apart from Micah. She didn't know how she was supposed to feel. Eddie and Micah seemed to be close, almost like best friends. She wondered if he...knew. No, of course he couldn't. She felt a pang in her chest for him, then. He had no idea these people he thought were his friends weren't even people at all. She felt an even bigger pang as her thoughts drifted to Sydney. What was she doing right now? Was she alright? She still didn't like the fact that she'd gone by herself to get the ex-Strigois.

"Hey, you okay?" She looked up to see that the princess's other guardian, Neil was looking straight at her. Soon, everyone was looking her way.

She blinked. "Yes, fine."

He frowned. "You sure? You look a little pale."

What did a random Dhampir care if she looked pale or not. She'd heard Sydney talking about how this one was a bit overzealous when it came to his job as a guardian, but _her_ well-being certainly wasn't any of his concern.

"I'm just uh," she cleared her throat. "I'm still getting used to the weather out here." _Great save, Zoe. _

Neil sort of slowly nodded and then went back to his food. She rolled her eyes, annoyed for the unwanted attention he'd dumped on her. Thankfully everyone else seemed to forget about the whole thing a moment later, back to their mundane high school conversation topics. She reminded herself not to dwell in self-pity. It's not something that Sydney would do. And wherever Sydney was right now, Zoe knew her sister had to be 10 times more miserable than she was.

* * *

Sydney felt lighter than she had in weeks. She was practically skipping as she helped Dimitri and Sonya with their bags once they'd reached a nearby hotel they were to be staying at.

"We really appreciate the lift, Sydney." Sonya smiled.

"It's no problem, at all." she smiled back. "You know I don't mind helping out." She didn't mention her ulterior motive to "helping out" had been to squeeze in much needed alone time with Adrian.

"Saint Sydney strikes again," Christian's voice said from behind her. She turned around to shove him playfully.

"I thought you'd like the alliteration," he laughed, rubbing the spot where she'd shoved him.

"We really do appreciate it, Sydney." Dimitri nodded toward her graciously. He and Sonya turned to enter the hotel.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute!" Christian called to their retreating figures. He turned to Sydney, smiling. "So. Hey."

"Hey, yourself." she said, unable to stop herself from returning his smile tenfold. His unexpected presence had a sort of euphoric effect on her. She didn't know how she knew it, but she just knew without a shadow of a doubt that his being here was the best possible thing that could have happened. For one thing, he knew about her relationship with Adrian and was supportive of it. Maybe he'd be able to shed some insight on how she could work more alone time with Adrian into her schedule without Zoe knowing about it.

And for another thing, he was her friend. He was the only friend she had that didn't come with an asterisk. Jill was her friend, but the bond-thing with Adrian always made things a tad awkward. She had Kristin and Julia, but she could hardly tell them about the real goings on in her life. But Christian...she could tell him anything. The only other person she felt like that around was Adrian. But it was a different sort of feeling with Christian. There wasn't anything romantic there, obviously. Just unconditional friendship. And it meant the world to her.

"Everything good?" he asked, looking at her with sincerity. "You kind of went silent after you got home. I was worried you had died. Or worse, decided you didn't want to be my friend anymore."

She laughed. She and Christian had kept in touch fairly regularly after the wedding, but when life started going crazy with Ms. Terwilliger and Adrian and everything else, they'd sort of stopped talking. "I'm sorry," she sighed heavily. "A lot of things happened."

He nodded. "It's all good. I understand." He shifted his weight awkwardly. "You get the weekends off school, right? Maybe we could, you know, hang out." The suggestion came out sheepish, like he wasn't sure what he was saying.

She brightened. "We could hang out now, if you want. I took the day off school and Adrian's going to be in an art class for most of the day, so..."

"Wow such short notice..." Christian smirked, "But I guess I can fit you in to my busy schedule."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm honored."

"Well, actually," Christian gave her a pained look. "I may not be up to it right now. I uh...I sort of need," he dropped his voice low, "some blood in my system."

"Oh!" Sydney said, suddenly seeing that he did look paler than usual, and his eyes were a little sunken. "Of course."

"Dimitri said there was a feeder nearby, they're gonna rent a car so they can take me to feedings while we're here."

Sydney nodded. "Well, if you need to go right now, I can take you."

He seemed surprised by her eagerness. "Are you...sure? I mean, doesn't that stuff sort of squick you out?"

She laughed, then shrugged. "Not really anymore. I mean, I don't really want to witness it first-hand or anything...but like I told you, a lot has happened."

He gave her an appraising look. "I'm impressed, BSB."

"I think a lot about me would impress you these days."

His look turned sincere again. "I don't doubt that for a second."

Christian left what few belongings he'd brought with him at the hotel and then they were off to Clarence's. Dimitri was going to call him while they were en route so he'd be expecting them.

"So," Christian said with a mischievous glint in his eye, "How sails the good ship Sydrian?"

It took Sydney a moment to remember that was the ridiculous "power couple" name he'd thought up for her and Adrian. She shook her head, but couldn't help but to smile. "Things are good. Very good." She frowned, "Well, they were, anyway."

"Oh no," Christian said. "Iceberg?"

Sydney shook her head. "Worse. Little sister."

Christian raised an eyebrow. "Your little sister? What about her?"

"She's here." Sydney sighed. "in Palm Springs."

Christian's eyes widened. "You don't mean she's..."

"An Alchemist." Sydney said flatly. "Yeah. That's exactly what I mean."

"Shit." Christian winced, looking genuinely upset on her behalf. "I'm sorry, Sydney."

She just shrugged. "What's done is done," she said, echoing Adrian's words from earlier. "She's here. It's happened. So all I can do now is focus on how to undo all that's been done to her."

Christian nodded. "Good attitude. I'll help in any way I can. We can call it Operation Iceberg."

Sydney burst out laughing. "Oh my God."

Christian gave her a strange look. "I didn't think it was _that _funny."

"It's just that," she said when she managed to stop giggling. "Earlier, when I was thinking about what I was going to do...in my head I was calling it Operation Un-brainwash Zoe."

"Damn," Christian shook his head. "It's good I got here when I did. That's the worst name for a covert operation I've ever heard."

"I'm really glad you're here," she said as they pulled up in front of Clarence's house.

"Yeah," Christian smiled. "Me too."

Christian wasn't more than 10 or 15 minutes inside Clarence's house before he was jogging out of it to return to the car. He slid in with a slightly bewildered expression on his face.

"That guy's a little kooky, huh?"

"Clarence?" Sydney asked. "Yeah, but he's harmless."

Christian nodded. "I think he was reciting poetry to me. And he kept calling me Chad."

Sydney laughed. "Looks like you've made another friend."

Christian snorted. "Alright, now that I'm refreshed and ready to take on the world, fill me in on everything that's happened."

"You sure you want to know everything?"

"Hit me with it," he said, leaning back against his seat.

Sydney took a deep breath. And then she told him. Everything. Well, not everything, everything. There were some things that were private. And she didn't tell him about Hopper because...well...she just still really didn't know how to explain she had a demon-dragon for a baby. But everything else, she told him. Marcus, the magic, the tattoo-breaking, Alicia, Zoe, all of it. And when she was finished with her saga, he just looked at her with a look of utter disbelief and said,

"You got detention?"

She gaped at him. "Really? Of everything I just told you, that's what you're concerned about?"

"It was the craziest part of the story!" Christian exclaimed. "Still not sure I believe it."

"It was so stupid," Sydney rolled her eyes. "I had to call the school on the first day back and beg to be at the top of the list-"

Christian nearly knocked his head against the dashboard of the car laughing. "Wait, so you actually called the school..." he gasped for breath, "and requested your detention to be what, like, moved up?"

"I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible," Sydney said. "Obviously."

"I can just see you..." Christian was still laughing. "Calling in all business like and being like 'Yes sir, I'd like one detention, please. I need it at once.'"

Sydney furrowed her brow. "I don't talk like that."

"So what's up with this car?" Christian asked suddenly, as if he'd just noticed what they were in."

"I know," Sydney gushed. "It's gorgeous."

"Yours?" Christian asked, looking around appreciatively.

"Not technically," Sydney said. "It's Adrian's."

He nodded. "I see. Wow. It's really something. I didn't know he was into old cars."

"He's not," Sydney smiled. "I am."

It took a moment for Christian to realize what she meant. When he did, he clutched his chest dramatically. "I'm gonna cry."

She shook her head. "Why are you so obsessed with our relationship again?"

"Because it's adorable," Christian gave her a teasing smile. Then he sat up straight, looking upset. "But how are you guys going to, you know, _be together_, if your sister's around?"

Sydney sighed, giving him a rueful look. "Yeah, that's something we're all still trying to figure out."

"Filing it away as objective number one in Operation Iceberg," Christian tapped his forehead. "We'll think of something."

"You're really serious about this Operation Iceberg thing?"

Christian looked offended. "You even have to ask?"

She smiled softly at him. "Well, thanks. I need all the help I can get."

He smiled back. "So, where to now?"

"I don't know," Sydney said. "Wherever you want."

"I'm kinda hungry," Christian said. "Would you like to discuss our mission objectives over brunch?"

She laughed. "Yeah, we can do that."

"Where's a good place to eat around here?"

"I'm about as familiar with the area as you are, to be honest." Sydney said, starting the car up.

Christian laughed. "We can just drive around, use context clues."

"Sounds like a good plan," Sydney smirked. "Here," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and tossing it to him. "Look up nearby restaurants."

They'd only been driving for a few minutes when Sydney heard Christian gasp, "Oh my God!"

She slammed on the breaks, throwing her right arm against Christian's chest to stop him from flying forward when the car came to a violent halt.

"What?!"

He looked down at her arm, then up at her. He smirked. "Did you just mommy-seatbelt me?"

She could have slapped him. "Did you just give me a heart attack?"

"Sorry!" he pouted, "but look at that!" he pointed animatedly to his right. Sydney squinted in the sunlight and saw a house that looked like it was caving in on itself. The front half was all gutted and blackened from charring.

"Yikes," Sydney hissed. "I wonder why it hasn't been torn down."

Christian smirked. "I bet it's haunted."

Sydney snorted. "Yeah, I bet that's it."

Christian sighed. "When I was little and lived with my aunt, I used to pretend the house we were in was haunted and run around with a vacuum pretending to suck up all the evil ghosts."

Sydney scrunched up her face, laughing. "Why a vacuum?"

"Because, you know, like Ghostbusters!" Christian exclaimed. "Duh."

"Is that a movie?" Sydney asked, confused.

Christian's expression was horrified. "You've never...seen...Ghostbusters?"

"I haven't seen a lot of movies. Especially anything with supernatural stuff in it, my dad wouldn't allow it."

Christian looked distraught. "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard."

"Tell me about it," Sydney matched his expression, though hers was sarcastic. "And people think you had a bad childhood, they should hear my sob story. I mean I wasn't even allowed to watch Ghostbusters!"

Christian stared at her for a moment, and she realized all at once that what she'd just said was horrible. She was about to apologize when Christian threw his head back and laughed harder than she'd ever seen him laugh. His body rocked as he cackled uncontrollably, and she couldn't help but crack up herself. He was one of those people with an infectious laugh and right now he was in stitches. It was impossible not to laugh along with him.

"Why are we laughing?" Sydney panted, trying to catch her breath.

"I don't know," Christian gasped through his own laughter. "I think we might be crazy."

"I'd say that's a pretty solid theory."

"I say we go investigate the haunted house." Christian's eyes lit up with mischief.

"Now that _is_ crazy," Sydney said. "It could be dangerous."

Christian clucked his tongue. "You sound scared."

"Of brushing up against a rusty nail and getting tetanus?" Sydney raised her eyebrows. "Very."

Christian shook his head. "That's too bad. I feel like I have this really fool-proof plan that will ensure you and Adrian getting to spend more time together, but it's like just out my reach. I think it'd be a lot easier for me to think after I knew for sure there were no ghosts lurking nearby."

Sydney gave him a hard look. "Bribery will get you nowhere with me."

"Okay." He let out a deep sigh, jutting his bottom lip out. His eyes were downcast. She heard him sniff a little.

Suddenly she knew where this was going. "Oh no," she said, "Don't you dare-"

He turned to her, then. His eyes wide and brows knitted together. His bottom lip quivered slightly.

"Don't look at me like that!" she groaned, trying desperately not to stare directly into his icy blue eyes, which were becoming glassy with tears. She couldn't pull her gaze away. It was like trying to look away from a trainwreck. A pitifully adorable trainwreck.

"Oh my goodness, okay okay, I'll go, just stop it!"

Christian's expression went from kicked puppy to smug victor in less than a second. "Yes!" he snapped his fingers. "Works like a charm."

Sydney shook her head. "You're disgusting."

Christian titled his head back, sighing. "You're making me blush." A second later he was opening the door of the mustang and hopping out. "You coming?"

Sydney sighed, getting out of the car reluctantly and walking over to him. "Just to get a closer look. We can't leave the car sitting for long."

"Oh, come on. We'll be able to see it from the house." he grabbed her hand and starting walking toward the decrepit building, pulling her along behind him.

When they came upon the house, Christian looked even more mystified than he had in the car. "Whoa," he breathed as they both stared at and into the house. "So wild." He ducked underneath an area of the house that was gaping open and slid inside.

"Christian!" Sydney hissed, her voice an inexplicable whisper. "What are you doing?"

"Investigating!" he whispered back. Sydney looked around nervously.

"Hurry it up, this could be private property."

"Will you chill out?" Christian chuckled. "Seriously, you have to see this."

"The view's quite enough from where I'm standing." Sydney said.

"Pleeeaassee?" Christian whined. "I could fall and land on a rusty nail."

"And that would be your fault," Sydney shot back.

"Aren't you supposed to be a big rebel now?" Christian taunted. "I've gotta say, so far I'm unimpressed."

"Oh, give me a break!" Sydney scoffed, ducking her head under the hole Christian had slipped through to glare at him. "Are we done here?"

He smirked when he saw her. "Not until you come in here and investigate with me."

She looked around, but it was hard to see much from her uncomfortable angle. "I can't believe I'm doing this." she grumbled, carefully hiking a leg over the hole and sidling herself into the house. She managed to do so -though less gracefully than Christian's cat-like maneuvering- without hurting herself.

"Wow," she breathed when she stood upright, taking in her surroundings. Christian had been right. It was definitely a sight to see. Half the house, the half they were currently standing in, was all twisted and bent, some parts seemingly frozen in mid-crumble. The whole area black and burnt. The destruction stretched all the way to a wide staircase in the middle of the house, but stopped abruptly right before it reached it. The staircase lay untouched, as did the rest of the house that followed it. She dragged her gaze slowly across the eerily pristine part of the house, an unsettling feeling passing over her.

"Creepy," she shuddered.

"More like awesome!" Christian argued. He took a few steps toward the staircase. "Looks like the upstairs is all intact. You thinking what I'm thinking?" he looked toward Sydney expectantly.

"Absolutely not!" she hissed, walking right up behind him and taking hold of his arm. "You are not going up those stairs."

He just grinned at her. "You know when people tell me not to do something, it just becomes all that more enticing."

"Christian, I'm serious." Sydney said. "We have no idea what's up there."

"Exactly."

"Christian." her voice was a warning.

"The need to see something cool is clouding my judgment," he said, putting one foot on the first step of the staircase and gently pressing his weight down on it. It protested with an ear piercing creak.

"Christian!" she snapped, "Stop. Just..." she looked around frantically, knowing once he'd set his mind to do something he was going to do it, but hoping to find something else that could distract him. But there was nothing but a creepy half-burnt house and piles and piles of ash.

Ash.

"If you stop right there," she said quickly. "I'll show you something cool."

To her relief, Christian stopped. He pivoted on the step and looked at her. "I'm listening."

She bent down in front of her, carefully not to let any part of her body touch anything. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"You mentioned that," Christian smirked.

She rubbed an ashy spot on the ground with her fingertips, then gently rubbed them across her palm. She technically didn't need it, but it would probably make it easier. It wasn't yew bark, but it was still ash that had been brought about by fire. She told herself she would wash her hands immediately after this.

Christian raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know if I'll be able to." she warned. "I haven't really been practicing."

"Practicing what?" Christian's eyes widened. "Is this a magic trick?"

"More or less," she said. She felt the magic energy stirring up inside of her just thinking about what she was about to attempt.

Christian made a high pitched sound of excitement. "What are you going to do?"

"You'll see," she said. "Hopefully."

The energy was steadily building up, but so far no results yet. She looked at Christian who was watching her intently. "Stop staring at me," she commanded. "You're making me nervous."

He brought his hands up over his eyes. "Okay, I won't look."

Sydney took a deep breath and the magic surged through her more intensely. It took longer than it had with the yew bark but after a few moments the space right about her palm flickered into a small swirl of red flame. She smiled, pride swelling up in her, and the flame thrived into a full blown fireball. She almost squeaked with happiness.

She held her arm out at a 90 degree angle. "Okay," she told Christian. "You can look."

Christian lowered his hands and his smirky smile vanished.

"Impressed yet?" she teased, wiggling her fingers underneath the flame. The sensation was still strange. Tingly and warm, but not burning.

Christian just continued to stare at her, his expression oddly blank.

She coughed. "I can't sustain it for too long, it takes too much of my energy. This spell is for combat purposes, really."

Christian's eyes went even wider. "Combat purposes?" he finally rasped. "So, that's not like...just an illusion or whatever? That's real fire?"

"Of course it's real fire!" she laughed. She flicked her hand upward and the fireball bounced slightly. "Great for throwing." she frowned at him. "I thought you of all people would be a little more excited."

"I_ am _excited." He blinked a few times. "I'm in shock." he shook his head. "That's...incredible."

The natural high magic always brought along with it mingled with the feeling Christian's awe stirred within her and she felt almost dizzy.

"It'll die down here in a few seconds," she said, and right on cure the flame faltered and she felt a little sad to see it go.

"Here," Christian put his hands out in front of him. "Toss it to me."

"W-what?" Sydney sputtered.

"You said you can throw it," Christian said, "So toss it on over."

"I don't think that's how they work-"

"I think I know a little bit more about manipulating fire than you, BSB." Christian rolled his eyes. "Just trust me."

She did trust him. She lobbed a gentle underhanded toss in his direction and the ball started to dissipate as it sailed but Christian crouched in front of it before it could hit the ground and caught it between his hands, suspending it between them.

"Now that is what I'd call incredible," Sydney said, impressed.

He straightened back up, still holding the ball between his hands. He spread them apart and the ball almost doubled in size. Sydney frowned. "Show off."

"You could do this, too, you know." he said.

Sydney shook her head. "It takes way too much energy. I could never hold it for that long. Or make it that big."

"Do you think I started out doing this?" Christian asked. "Your power will develop over time. There's a lot I could teach you."

Sydney hadn't even thought of that. She smiled. "Would you really?"

"Totally," Christian said. "We can start right now. Lesson Number One: Think Fast!" and the fireball was sailing right toward her.

She yelped in alarm, bringing her hands up instinctively in front of her face, bracing herself for impact. But it never came. She opened her eyes and gasped. The fireball was still suspended in mid-air, right in front of her face, between her hands.

"What do I do?!" she asked in a panic.

"I knew you could catch it!" Christian laughed. "Just hold it!"

She brought her hands down in front of her chest and the ball moved along with them. Sydney squealed. "I'm really doing this!" The giddiness of the magic was overwhelming.

"You're amazing!" Christian exclaimed. "Now throw it back."

She shook her head. "I don't think I can. This is like, huge."

"Don't freak out," Christian ordered calmly. "You've got this. Remember, _you're_ the one controlling_ it_."

Sydney took a deep breath and tried to let his words sink in. She pushed her hands away from her slightly and the ball went with them. "I've got this," she said out loud.

"You've got this," Christian repeated.

"Okay, I'm gonna throw it now." she warned.

"Try pushing it." he suggested.

"What?!"

"I guess uh, I don't know to explain..." he squinted. "Pretend like its a basketball. I know it's hard because you can't really feel the weight of it. But act like your holding an actual ball right there, in front of your chest like that, and just push it toward me as hard as you can."

Sydney took a shaky breath. "Oh God, okay. Here goes nothing."

"Hit me with your best shot."

She tried to follow his instructions, bending her elbows and pulling the ball back toward her chest slightly, then pushed her arms forward with all the energy she could muster. The ball shot through the air and Christian put his hands up at the last minute, halting it right in front of his fingertips. She was amazed at how skilled he was at this. He really could teach her a lot.

"You're still putting me to shame," she laughed.

"I don't think so," Christian said, smiling at her. "I think you're like, the coolest person in the world right now."

"You're one to talk, fire master." she teased. "I'll never be on your level."

"Not with that attitude," Christian tsked. "I told you, you just need to keep developing. I can help you."

Sydney couldn't believe she'd thought this fireball throwing thing was boring when she'd practiced it with Ms. Terwilliger. The thought of Christian helping her hone this skill, and the thought of being able to do the type of things he could do with fire, was invigorating.

"I'll hold you to that promise," she said. "Though to be honest, I'm already starting to feel a little drained. It takes a lot out of me."

Christian nodded. "Class dismissed," he said authoritatively, and clapped his hands together, extinguishing the fireball. He smiled widely at her. "I'm still like...I can't even believe this." He took a few steps toward her, beaming like a proud parent. "You're like me."

She met his gaze and a warm, comforting feeling took hold of her. She looked at him and saw someone so genuine, so understanding, and someone so much like herself. She'd never really had a "best friend" before. That one person who she could go to with anything without fear of being judged, that one person who would always be on her side no matter what. But looking at Christian standing in front of her in that ridiculous half-burnt house, she felt with unwavering certainty that she did now.

"Yeah," she smiled softly at him. "I guess I am."

* * *

When they got back to the car, much to Christian's amusement, Sydney pulled a bag of wet wipes of her purse and forced him to wipe down his hands and shoes as she did the same.

"You just have these on hand?" he chuckled.

"I like to be prepared for anything." she said, inspecting him for any dirt or ash before allowing him to get back in the car.

They eventually did find somewhere to eat. One of those 50's inspired diner chains. She was starving from all the energy she'd used up playing catch the fireball with Christian. She didn't really like people watching her eat. But Christian was too consumed with excitedly telling her about the cool stuff they could do together with fire to really pay much attention to her as she wolfed down her food. She felt at ease around him and felt immensely lucky to call him a friend.

"You know, you never told me your brilliant plan about Adrian and I spending more time together." she said, as she pulled up in front of the hotel he was staying at.

He grinned wickedly. "That's because I haven't got one."

"You're the worst!" she said, punching him on the arm.

"I wasn't lying!" he assured her. "It's just still in the brainstorming stage. Give me a day or two, I'll come through. I promise."

Sydney was about to give him an earful when her phone buzzed and she saw she had a text from Adrian. "Speak of the devil," she said, opening the message. "I've got to go pick him up now."

Christian's smile widened and moved to exit the vehicle. "Well, I certainly don't want to delay any Sydrian lovey-dovey time. I'll see you later."

She shook her head at him. "I'm still holding you to your promises, you know."

"I know, " he nodded emphatically. "Don't worry. You can count on me."

She smiled at him. "I don't doubt that for a second."

* * *

Sydney's heart was fluttering with excitement as she pulled up to the building where Adrian's class was being held. She didn't have the patience to wait for him to come to her. As soon as she got there, she walked right up to where he and a few other people she assumed were students were standing and threw her arms around him, kissing him right there in front of God and everyone. In retrospect, not the best idea. But she was too happy to care. He returned her kiss, smiling against her lips.

"I missed you too," he teased, his hands curling around her hips, pulling her against him.

"I'm in a really good mood," she said, the sensation of his closeness almost making her knees buckle.

"Me too," he said, kissing her forehead.

"How was the class?" she asked, her face buried in his neck. People were staring at them. She found it hard to care.

"Pretty cool," he said.

"I want to hear all about it," she said, "But let's get home first. We can continue the conversation in bed."

Adrian's eyebrows raised. "In bed? Just what kind of boy do you think I am?"

"My kind of boy," she said, reaching up to kiss him again.

"You _are_ in a good mood," he said as she dragged him toward the mustang. "Good deeds really get you off that much?"

She laughed. Then she said, "I did magic today."

"Ah," he said as they entered the car. "Quality time with Jackie?"

She shook her head. "I hung out with Christian."

"Christian?" Adrian was surprised. "Ozera?"

Sydney nodded. "Abe neglected to mention he'd be coming with Sonya and Dimitri. But it was a pleasant surprise."

"Wait, so you did magic...with Christian?" Adrian smirked. "Don't tell me you showed him the fireball thing." Sydney couldn't help but laugh.

"I would've loved to see that," Adrian said. "Did he totally freak out or what?"

"Pretty much," Sydney said. "He said he can teach me how to develop the skill."

Adrian frowned. "I'm all for you becoming an even more badass warrior goddess than you already are, but if Ozera thinks he can weasel in on your free time that rightfully belongs to me, he's got another thing coming."

Sydney took one hand off the steering wheel to grab Adrian's. She squeezed it reassuringly. "Time with you is much more important than fire lessons. Christian knows that. In fact, he's going to help us on that front, as well. He told me he's coming up with a plan so we'll be able to see more of each other. You know, without everyone else around."

"What's he getting out of it?"

"Beats me." Sydney shrugged. "He's like, determined to help us be together."

Adrian smiled. "Well, we are a pretty hot couple if I do say so myself."

* * *

Once they were in the privacy of Adrian's apartment they immediately started in on the kissing again. Falling onto his couch, grabbing for each other like they hadn't touched in years. Legs intertwined. Hands crept under clothes to graze bare skin. Electricity crackled between them.

"I forgot," Sydney breathed, pulling away from him. "Family time."

Adrian sighed, pulling her mouth back to his. "Just a few more minutes of mommy-daddy time."

She couldn't argue with that. They continued as they had been for awhile longer. A lot longer than a few more minutes. But eventually they managed to untangle themselves and Adrian left to get Hopper. He returned a moment later, carrying a small aquarium with the tiny dragon sleeping inside of it.

Adrian lifted the top off the aquarium and scooped up Hopper gently in his hands. He stroked the dragon's back. "Wake up, little guy. Look who's here to see you."

The dragon's eyes fluttered open and when they landed on Sydney it scrambled out of Adrian's hands and into her lap.

"Aww," Sydney's heart squeezed. "I missed you too."

"I told you he's been miserable without you around." Adrian said, putting his arm around her. "We've bonded over it."

"I'm sorry, Hopper." she said, picking him up and bringing him gently to her chest. "I haven't been a very good mother."

"I wouldn't say that," Adrian said softly. "At least you care."

The dragon clawed its way up Sydney's chest and perched happily on her shoulder, wagging his little dragon tail as he did so.

"You see?" Adrian smiled. "All is forgiven."

The three of them stayed on Adrian's couch for quite some time. Adrian told them all about his art class, how it was mostly just boring introductory stuff, and the wouldn't get to do anything fun until next week. They tried watching TV, but Hopper wasn't very impressed with the History Channel, so they just let him scamper around between them, giggling at his dragon antics.

At 3 o'clock, Adrian dropped Sydney back off at Amberwood and the lighter than air feeling Sydney had spent most of the day reveling in began to dissipate.

"I feel bad about leaving her on her own." Sydney sighed. "She wasn't ready."

"I'm sure she did fine, Sage." Adrian gave her a soft kiss. "She's a Sage, after all. You lot are incredibly durable."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," she teased, leaning into kiss him again.

"When am I going to see you again?" he asked, bringing his hands up to cup her face.

"Soon, I hope."

"I could come to you tonight." he said.

"No," Sydney was adamant. "You're on a spirit diet, remember?"

"I haven't used it for anything in awhile. I think it will be fine."

As much as she wanted to give into him, his well-being was the most important thing to her. "No, Adrian. Not yet. We'll find a way to be together in the waking world. Just...hold on for a little while longer. Don't give up on me just yet."

"Never," he promised. They shared one last kiss and then they were leaving each other again for an uncertain amount of time. She wondered if it would ever stop hurting this much. To leave him. She felt like a part of herself wasn't there. She entered her dorm building with a heavy heart, now mixed with the anxiety of hearing how Zoe's first day without her had gone.

She let herself into her room and was surprised to see not only Zoe, but Jill. Side by side, staring out the room's window.

"Uh, what are we looking at?"

The girls jumped and turned around. "Oh, hey!" Jill smiled. "You're back."

"Are you okay?" Zoe took a few steps toward her.

"I'm fine," Sydney said. "Are _you_ okay? How'd everything go around here?"

"It was fun!" Jill said. "Zoe ate lunch with us."

"You did?" Sydney tried to hide the hope in her voice.

Zoe's expression was that of offense and slight disgust. "There was nowhere else to sit."

So much for hoping.

"Have you seen it?" Jill asked excitedly.

"Seen what?" Sydney was confused.

"Oh my gosh, she totally hasn't." Jill nudged Zoe and Zoe looked like she might pass out. She eyed the spot where Jill had touched her like she wanted to douse it in holy water.

"What have I not seen?" Sydney asked, looking between the two of them.

Zoe opened her mouth to speak but at that moment, her phone rang. She groaned. "Hold that thought," she said, pulling it out of her purse and answering. "Hello?"

"Miss Sage! I trust everything went swimmingly at the airport?"

Great.

"A very loose use of that word, but yes." Sydney said, "I picked them up and dropped them off at their hotel. It was fine."

"Wonderful," Abe said. "you really are a stand up young lady."

"Thanks," Sydney said flatly. "Is that all you needed?"

"Ah, no." Abe replied strangely. "Are you alone right now?"

"No," Sydney said shortly.

"Could you be?" Abe asked. "I have something of paramount importance to discuss with you."

"Hold on just one second." She said, then looked toward her sister and Jill. "I'm going to take this outside." she told them, leaving her room before hissing to Abe, "I am _not_ doing you another favor."

"I really wouldn't ask unless it was terribly important," Abe drawled. "And, as you may have already seen, I intend to make it worth your while."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sydney moaned, raking a hand through her hair.

"So you haven't seen it, then." Abe seemed amused.

Was he referring to the same thing Jill had been? She really wasn't up for his games right now. "I suppose I haven't," she said. "Go ahead and enlighten me."

"Where are you right now?"

"Excuse me?" Sydney asked.

"Right now, this very moment, what is your location?" Abe's clarification was laced with amused sarcasm.

Sydney gritted her teeth. "I'm at my dorm."

"Perfect." Abe said. "Just look out your window, then."

"What?" Sydney asked, but she was already stepping back into the dorm, walking past her very confused little sister and Jill, and stood in front of the window. She half expected to see Abe himself looking back at her, but all she could see was a parking lot filled with cars. "What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?"

"You mentioned your old car was a Subaru," Abe said. "I forgot to ask for the color, so I just went with red. I hope that's not too much of a bother."

Sydney almost dropped the phone. She squinted and sure enough there was a shiny new red Subaru outback parked in one of the spaces. "You're not saying-"

"I had a friend of mine drop off the key earlier. All the papers should be safely tucked inside the glove box. All in your name."

She spun around to see Jill holding up a car key. "Surprise," she said, stepping forward to place it in Sydney's palm.

At this point Sydney was too dumbfounded to walk back outside the room. "You bought me a new car?" she practically screamed into the phone. "I can't accept that."

"Oh, but of course you can!" Abe's voice was as infuriatingly pleasant as ever. "You've proven yourself time and again to be the loyal sort, always coming through when you say you will. I appreciate that, you know."

"Whatever you want me to do," Sydney said, "I'm not doing it. So you can take your car back, because this is ridiculous. Even for you."

Abe just chuckled. "Why don't you let me explain the situation at hand before you make your final decision."

Sydney was still partially in shock, which is the only reason she was still on the phone with him. "I don't-"

"I'm going to need you to do a large amount of lying," Abe said as if she hadn't spoken. "But I assure you it's for the most noble of causes."

"Just get to the point, please."

"I've arranged for a plane to land at the private airport you're now familiar with, tomorrow, at midnight. That plane will be there to collect Mr. Ivashkov and bring him to me. I cannot tell you where I am, nor can you tell anyone where Adrian will actually be. I assume you can come up with a believable cover story. You're a smart young girl. And it's only for one day."

Sydney was rendered literally speechless for a few moments, taking a long time to process what he'd just said. She stormed past Zoe and Jill and out into the hallway, slamming the door behind her.

When she finally found her voice, her tone was clipped. "Okay. Let's just pretend I was actually going to do this. Let's just pretend I was going to play your little secret agent and lie to everyone and drop Adrian off at your 'private airport' to take him God know's where ever you are. Why...on Earth...do you think Adrian would agree to do this?"

"Because, Miss Sage." Abe said simply, "It's not me who is requesting his presence. It's his mother."


	3. Requiem for a Dream

_I wanted to be with you alone _  
_And talk about the weather_  
_But traditions I can trace against the child in your face _  
_Won't escape my attention_  
_You keep your distance with a system of touch _  
_And gentle persuasion._  
_I'm lost in admiration could I need you this much?_  
_Oh you're just wasting my time _  
_You're just wasting time._

_Something happens and I'm head over heels_  
_I never find out till I'm head over heels_  
_Something happens and I'm head over heels_  
_Ah don't take my heart don't break my heart_  
_Don't don't throw it away_

_Head Over Heels - Tears For Fears_

Adrian Ivashkov was not going to smoke a cigarette. He did not need one. He did not want one. At least, that's what he kept telling himself. His head ached. His fingers tingled uncomfortably. His throat itched. But nicotine wasn't going to fix that. Actually, nicotine was probably exactly what was going to fix that, but still. A cigarette wasn't Sydney. And that's what he really wanted.

He thought he'd had it bad before. He'd pined over women, felt that awful dragging feeling in his chest when he wanted someone so bad and they weren't there. But not like this. When Rose was in a different country, sure, he'd missed her. Terribly. But this. This was ridiculous. Sydney was mere minutes away from him but it felt like a universe was stretched between them. He'd just seen her earlier today. He'd got to hold her, kiss her, be with her. Two different times. In the same day. That should have been more than enough. But it wasn't even close. He thought that once she was finally his girlfriend the gnawing ache he felt when she wasn't around would fade, but in truth it had only become worse. Because Oh God, she was his girlfriend now. _His_. When Rose finally agreed to be his girlfriend, he remembered the giddy anxiety that had coursed through him. He felt sort of strangely on edge all the time, like his world could collapse at any moment. And sort of obtuse and surreal, like he was half asleep and couldn't tell if he was dreaming or not. He'd thought that was love. It wasn't, of course. He knew that now. Love wasn't like dreaming. It was the most awake he'd ever been. It was startlingly _real_. Every time Sydney walked into a room his senses came alive. The world sharpened around him. And when they were together, no matter what they were doing, whether it was frantic kissing in his bed or stealing glances across a crowded room, her presence alone was enough to make him feel like he finally belonged somewhere. She was his home.

He knew he shouldn't let himself drown in the thought of her like this. It hurt to miss her so much. But it was a good kind of hurt. And he'd always been just a little bit of a masochist. Most people aggressively avoided intense feelings, like heartbreak or longing. Adrian reveled in them. It wasn't like he enjoyed being unhappy, he just didn't really know how to function any other way. He felt everything so deeply, but he couldn't help himself. Keeping his emotions bottled up inside was much more painful than just letting himself feel them. Sure, sometimes he wished he could just turn his emotions off, like everyone did. But numbness was too close to darkness...spirit darkness...and that was a hell of a lot scarier than just letting yourself have a nice emotional breakdown every now and then.

His mind was ricocheting off in too many different directions, as it often did, and he took a deep breath, trying to tether himself to reality. If Sydney was here, he wouldn't even have to think about it. She was the anchor that kept him grounded in sanity. If he started to drift off all she'd have to do was speak, and he'd be back. Her voice would always bring him back.

But Sydney wasn't here now and he was in moderately bad shape. He was craving. He was spiraling. He'd much prefer the taste of Sydney's lips to a stick of nicotine but the latter of those two things was much easier to come by, given the current circumstances.

Adrian rolled his shoulders back and sighed. He needed to _do_ something. He could paint but he was too antsy,not really in the right mood. He supposed he could go for a drive. Yeah, a drive would do him good. Fresh air and all that. He rolled himself off his couch and stood to find his car keys. He may or may not be planning to stop at a store of convenience. And that store of convenience may or may not conveniently store tobacco products. But really, fresh air and a calming drive were his key motivators here. Totally.

He was halfway out the door when he realized he didn't have his phone on him. He'd had to lay it face down on the far shelf in his living room, because he found himself checking it almost obsessively to see if Sydney called or sent a text message. Plus, his background was a particularly adorable photo of her, the one he'd taken of her at the mini-gold course. He sighed, remembering. A lifetime ago. He imagined time travelling back to that moment, slapping his blissfully ignorant past self on the back and saying, "Good luck man, she's going to ruin you."

He grabbed his phone, still dreamy with nostalgia, mentally commanding himself not to check his inbox. The _no new messages _status always seemed to mock him. _I'm not going to check_, he told himself. _I just want to know what time it is_. He flipped his phone over and his heart dropped an inch or two. He tried not to smile as he touched the little envelope with a bright bold 2 hovering above it.

They were both from Sydney. The first one read:

**I need to talk to you as soon as you get this. **

It was from a few hours ago. _Shit_, he thought. It was followed by another message from about 45 minutes ago that read:

**It's really important. Please text me.**

He tried not to worry, if it was a real emergency, Sage would have called him. He quickly typed out a reply.

**Whats going on? Call me.**

He felt like he'd barely hit send and there was already a reply.

**Not an option. I've got Zoe here with me and I've already had to do enough mysterious phone call explaining for a lifetime. I need to see you in person. **

He furrowed his brow in confusion. He didn't know what she was rambling about but she wanted to see him and that took precedence over anything else.

**Perfect timing. Ive got cabin fever and was just about 2 head out. Where u wanna meet? **

This reply took longer and he drummed his fingers impatiently against the back of his phone, anxiously awaiting instructions. When he got them, he was surprised.

**No, I can't meet you anywhere in the waking world. I'm in bed. I need you to come to me once I fall asleep. I know we decided you weren't going to use spirit unless it was an emergency but well...it's the only way. I'm sorry.**

What the hell was going on? Now he really was worried.

**Everything ok? Ur scaring me a little.**

The next reply was the worst of all of them.

**Not exactly. I'll be asleep in approximately 15 minutes. Just please, come to me.**

He tried to shrug off the dreadful feeling that had come over him and exactly 15 minutes later he let his mind drift to Sydney, pulling for her the way he always did with someone he was trying to contact via spirit dream. Her disembodied presence surrounded him like a warm blanket and he smiled. Only Sage would know the exact time she was going to fall asleep. A few moments later she appeared, standing before him in that clingy tank top she had on today and a pair of unncessarily short athletic shorts.

"Thank you," she said when she saw him. She smiled, then looked down at herself. She stopped smiling. "What am I-did you do this?"

"Maybe," he smirked, closing the distance between them with his lips. His hands roamed down her sides shamelessly, pulling her until she was pressed tightly against him. She pushed at his chest and pulled away from him. He looked up at her and she still wasn't smiling. He pouted. "You look so good in that tank top, I couldn't help myself. The shorts are a bit much, I agree. But-"

"Adrian." she said softly. "We need to talk."

His chest squeezed. The four most foreboding words one could ever utter in a relationship and Sydney had just slapped him across the face with him. Could she be angry with him for something? Surely not. They'd had such a good time earlier, they hadn't argued or anything. Maybe she was just pissed he'd missed her original text in the first place. Sydney _was_ a stickler for punctuality. "I'm sorry I missed your texts," he said, bringing his hands up to tuck her hair behind her ears. "My phone was on silent and I wasn't paying attention."

She seemed taken aback by his apology. "It's fine," she said. She paused. She took a breath. "Look, Adrian. I need to tell you something and I'm not sure how you're going to react."

Every muscle in his body seemed to tense. "So, tell me."

She hesitated. "Maybe...maybe you should sit down."

"I'd rather stand."

"Adrian, I think-"

"Just tell me. Please," he added in a tight voice.

This couldn't be what it sounded like. Sage was just being Sage. All stoic and serious when it was really something easily fixable. That had to be it. Because she couldn't be...saying...what it sounded like she was saying.

She took another deep breath. "When I got back to Amberwood today...some things happened."

"Things?" he asked.

She nodded. "Things that I was in no way prepared to deal with and...God, Adrian..." she sighed heavily. "I've been doing nothing but thinking about how I was going to tell you for hours and here we are and I still have no idea how to do this."

He reached for her hands. "So, don't." He couldn't believe it. This was really happening.

"What?"

"Don't do this, Sydney." he pleaded, "I know it hasn't been easy, especially with Zoe being around, but we love each other. We can-"

"_What_ are you talking about?" she asked, looking at him in stark confusion. "Don't do what?"

He paused, his expression now mirroring hers. "I mean...don't break up with me."

An unexpected laugh bubbled out of her and she moved forward, cupping his face with her hands. "I'm not breaking up with you."

"You're not?" He couldn't help but expel a huge sigh of relief.

She shook her head in disbelief. "No, you idiot." She pulled his face to hers, kissing him gently. She pulled away a fraction of an inch and looked into his eyes. When she spoke again her voice was soft and intimate. "How could you ever think that?" She kissed him again, as if it were punctuation.

The sound of her voice, the closeness of her body, the taste of her lips...all brought on feelings Adrian was trying desperately to quell. Sexual desire wasn't by any stretch of the imagination a foreign concept to Adrian Ivashkov, but well, this time things were different. This wasn't just some girl he wanted. This was _Sydney_. His girl. And he wanted. He definitely wanted. But Sydney was a virgin. Not that he didn't know his way around a virgin. He'd been with a few, but he'd never been deliriously in love with any of them. That was something new for him. He'd never been in love like this before. It changed everything. He wanted to do everything right by her. He needed to. As much as he wanted to tear her clothes off and push her up against a wall and just _take_, more than anything he just wanted to make sure her first time was romantic and special and perfect. She deserved perfection.

"You were being all scary serious," he mumbled against her lips. "What was I supposed to think?"

"And here I thought you knew me better than that," she teased.

He sighed. "I was sort of floundering right before I saw your messages, so it's good I got them when I did."

She frowned. "What do you mean?" Her frown deepened. "Is spirit bothering you?"

"No," he said quickly. Too quickly. He swallowed. "I mean, not really-"

"Adrian." Her voice was stern. She pulled away from him, shaking her head. "I should have never asked you to do this. Why didn't you tell me when we were texting?"

"I wanted to see you."

"_Adrian_," he could hear the guilt her in voice.

He stepped toward her, folding her into his arms and squeezing her tight. "Being around you is the best thing for me when I'm like this. You're the only thing that helps. You know that."

She sighed. "You're still using spirit when you shouldn't be. I should-we should stop this. We can talk tomorrow."

"No," he held on to her tightly. "I'm fine. Really. Tell me what ever this crazy thing you have to tell me is."

She studied him for a long moment, as if trying to gauge whether or not he was being honest with her. Eventually she resigned, placing her hands on his chest and pushing him backward until he fell onto the couch behind him. A second later she dropped herself on his lap in a straddling position.

"Mmm," he said, letting his hands graze across her bare legs. This whole not ravishing her thing was proving to become more difficult by the minute. Her skin was so unfathomably soft, like silk underneath his fingertips. He curled his hands around her thighs and pulled her forward, capturing her lips with his. She groaned in protest, only to succumb to him a moment later, returning his kiss hungrily. The only thing sexier than Sydney herself was the fact that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Her desire unhinged him in a dangerous way. The way she arched her back, pressing the lower half of her body right up against his, was almost enough to make him lose himself completely. Thankfully, she pulled away from him before he snapped, wrapping her hands around his neck and looking down at him with narrowed eyes. "Bad boy," she said.

"You're the one on top of me!" he exclaimed.

"You're the one who said no spirit dream sex," she shot back, teasing.

He tilted his head back, admiring the view of her curves this position allowed. "Some rules are made to be broken."

She shook her head, laughing.

"Business first." she commanded.

He raise his eyebrows. "Then pleasure?"

"Maybe," she murmured, dipping her head down to kiss the skin just below his ear. "Only if you're good."

"Oh, Sage." He chuckled, gliding his hands upward to grip her waist. "You have no idea how good I can be."

She just rolled her eyes. She swiveled her body so she was still in his lap, though now in a much less suggestive position. "Time to be serious again."

"My least favorite time," he pouted.

"I talked to Abe again today," she said, all the humor gone from her voice. "He called me when I got back to Amberwood."

Adrian scrunched up his face. "Why is he so interested in you all of a sudden?"

"He sort of always has been," she sighed. "I think he actually kind of likes me...in his weird...twisted...Abe way. He um..." she paused, seemingly searching for the words to continue, "he bought me a new car."

"He- what?" Adrian sputtered. "Why would he do that?"

Sydney sighed again. "Why do you think?"

It took a few moments, but when Adrian realized the nature of the gesture, he frowned. "He needs another favor."

Sydney just nodded wordlessly.

"I know better than anyone you can handle yourself when it comes to Abe," Adrian said, "But I don't know if I like the idea of him using you like one of his minions. You know what they say if you give a mouse a glass of milk...no wait...that's not how it goes...the point is, I think you should tell him to find someone else to do his bidding. Keep the car, though. No take backs, and all that." he smiled, feeling a sense of pride. "Problem solved."

Sydney smiled briefly at him, then shook her head. "It's not that simple. Not this time."

"Why not?"

A terrible silence stretched between them. Adrian's mind flitted rapidly through possibilities of what she was about to say. Had he threatened her? Threatened him? Threatened her family? Some other form of blackmail? What?

"Because," Sydney finally said, "I want to."

"Come again?" Adrian asked. "You want to...what?"

"What Abe asked me to do," Sydney said, "I thought about it for a long time and I've decided that I want to do it."

"Okay," Adrian said slowly. "But...why?"

"Because it has to do with you."

"Me?" Adrian cocked an incredulous eyebrow. "What does he want with me?"

"_He _doesn't." she said, eyeing him carefully."He's working for someone else, someone who wants to get in touch with you."

"Who the hell needs to go through Abe Mazur to get in touch with me?" Adrian asked, more confused than ever.

Sydney took a deep breath. "Your mom."

Adrian just blinked at her for a few moments, not fully processing what she had just said. He gave a harsh laugh. "Tell me that's the punchline of a poorly timed joke."

Sydney gave him a strange look. "I'm not joking," she finally said. "Abe is arranging for a plane to come pick you up tomorrow night. I don't know where it's going. He couldn't tell me."

Adrian shook his head, pushing Sydney gently off his lap and standing up. "I don't...this doesn't make any sense. Why would my mom go through Abe to get to me?"

Sydney shrugged. "I'm guessing it was the only way she could."

Adrian scoffed at that. "The only way...yeah, right. Something must be going on...I mean..why now?"

"Maybe now is the first chance she's gotten," Sydney said quietly.

"She could have seen me any time she wanted," Adrian said, unable to keep the sour bitterness from his voice. "I mean, hello? Her son is a spirit user. I could have dreamwalked to her. Any time. But she told me explicitly she didn't want me to do that."

Sydney stood up and walked to him, taking his hands in hers. "I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head. "I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over this. It's embarrassing." He tried to pull away but Sydney grabbed his wrists tightly, and jerked him back to her with a surprising amount of force.

"Did you ever think that maybe _she_ was embarrassed?" she asked. "Maybe she didn't want her son seeing her like that. And she certainly wouldn't want her son to go to any lengths that would hurt him just to see her. If_ I _feel guilty over you using spirit just to see me, I can't even imagine how your mother would feel."

That drew Adrian up short. Because he hadn't thought of that, not really. He all at once felt immensely stupid. He frowned, taking his hands out of Sydney's grasp and placing them on his hips. "Well...when you say it like _that_." he sighed. "I just can't really imagine her doing something like this. She's the level-headed one in the family."

Sydney's arm wrapped around him and squeezed, filling him up with warmth. "Well, you don't what it's like to miss you. If I were in her position I think I'd be desperate enough to do just about anything."

He smiled, wrapping his arms around her as well. "I really do miss her, a lot."

"I know," Sydney said, rubbing his back. "I miss my mom too."

"Your mom's the cool one, right?" Adrian asked. He didn't know a whole lot about Sydney's parents aside from the fact that her father was controlling and judgemental. He suspected he was also possibly the root of some of Sydney's issues, but Sydney didn't really talk about him much and Adrian could only assume it was for the same reasons he didn't talk about his own father. She seemed to have a less strained relationship with her mother, which he could also relate to. "I mean she's the reason you're into cars and everything."

Sydney nodded. "Listen, like I said earlier, Abe's arranging for a plane to come pick you up at the same place Dimitri and Sonya and Christian were dropped off." Adrian almost got whiplash from her sharp subject change. Guess she didn't want to talk about her parents, then. "It's going to be there at midnight tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" He wasn't ready for that. "Jesus, well uh, okay. I guess. How am I supposed to get there?"

"Well I'm going to take you, of course." Sydney said. "I've got my own car now, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." He still couldn't believe Abe had done that. "How are you going to get out of Amberwood at that hour?"

Sydney sighed. "I'll think of something. I can maybe ask Ms. T to vouch for me, make up some emergency she needs my help with. I don't know. I'll talk to her about it at school tomorrow."

"What about explaining it to Zoe?" he asked.

Sydney's face paled. "I'm still...working on all that."

He didn't even have to check her aura to know she was stressed out about this. He rubbed gentle circles on her back. "Hey," he said softly. "If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. You shouldn't be caught in the middle of this. It's got nothing to do with you."

Sydney leaned forward to give him a soft peck on the lips. "Everything about you has to do with me."

"Ha ha," Adrian scoffed. "Very original. But I'm serious, Sage. I'm worried that if you keep doing things for Abe...well...I don't know, I just feel like he's up to something."

"He's always up to something," Sydney rolled her eyes. "Let me worry about all that, okay?"

He was still going to worry, obviously. But if Sydney told him she could handle it then he believed her. "Okay," he said after a long moment. He kissed her on the cheek. "So, is that all?"

Sydney looked upward as if trying to recall information. She looked back to him. "Yes."

"Good," Adrian said, pulling her against him and kissing her lips. He felt her arms snake around his neck and the kiss deepened. He pushed her backward while quickly manipulating the dream so they handed on his bed. She made a soft sound of approval and soon their limbs were tangling like vines, their kisses deep and passionate. He trailed kisses from her jaw down to her neck and stayed there, sucking and nibbling softly. She squirmed against him and sighed. He knew she liked that. Adrian liked to think he had a sixth sense when it came to pleasing women. More so than just being able to see their auras, he paid attention to their body language, the way they breathed, the sounds they made. For instance, Sydney's breaths were slow and ragged. She was squirming against him in a restless way. Oh yeah, she definitely wanted him. Her arousal radiated off of her in such a way that it was almost tangible. It drove him crazy. She even smelled intoxicating. Like a warm, musky vanilla scent. He brought his lips back to hers, knowing the last thing she needed to deal with was another hickey on top of everything else.

She made small, whimpering sounds against his mouth as they kissed. Their bodies were involuntarily grinding together in the worst possible way. He could feel himself teetering on the edge of control. She was so sexy, so perfect. She tasted so good. He wanted her, every bit of her, in every way. He loved her and she loved him and they were together and he hardly even noticed when she tugged at the material of his shirt until it wasn't on him anymore and he was too busy caught up in the sensation of her body writhing tortuously against his to stop her from shedding her own as well. Before he knew it she had moved on top of him, kissing him fiercely. His hands slid down her bare sides and he groaned against her lips. He knew they needed to stop. Like, now. He still didn't like the idea of their first time being in a spirit dream and he was just going to wake up painfully aroused and painfully alone if they kept going.

It seemed his girlfriend didn't share these opinions, as she moved from his mouth, down to his neck, and further still. She trailed kisses down his chest that burned his skin and he found it hard to remember why stopping was important. Or what day of the week it was. Or his name. His pants were way past uncomfortably tight and when she started kissing back up his chest he thought for sure he was going to lose it. She kissed his mouth briefly before pulling away from him altogether. He opened his eyes just in time to see her hands moving to reach behind her back.

"Oh God, please don't." he breathed. The sight of her in nothing but her bra was bad enough. He ached to touch her bare skin, taste it, and many other things it felt illegal to even think about. "I'll lose it if you do."

"I don't mind," she whispered. "I want you to."

That was literally the worst thing she could have said. He groaned in agony, letting his head fall back against the pillow. "Sage," he said. "We should stop."

"Why?" she asked, rolling over until she was nestled beside him. "Did I...do something wrong?"

"No," he said, turning to envelop her in a tight embrace, still struggling desperately to hold on to his sanity. "Of course not. You're perfect. You're driving me crazy. But I don't want to do it like this. I want you...you know...take it slow."

"Take it slow?" she asked, a note of disbelief in her voice. "Since when does Adrian Ivashkov want to take it slow?"

He trailed his finger down her spine. "I just don't want to rush this. I want it to be perfect for you."

"It will be perfect no matter what," she said, "because it will be with you."

"I love you, you know." she added softly. It made his heart stutter. He did know that, but hearing her say it was just...an indescribable feeling.

"I love you, too." he said, kissing the top of her head. "I just think our first time together should at least be in real life. Call me old fashioned."

She snuggled close to him. "I _guess_ I can agree with that."

"You just wait, Sage." Adrian said with a grin, "Good things come to those who wait. Jesus said that, didn't he?" Sydney just scoffed.

"I'm serious," he said. "I don't take the deflowering of the love of my life lightly. Prepare for the whole nine yards. I'll rent out a hotel room, order the most expensive champagne. Scented candles, rose petals scattered around the bed, mid 90's soft rock playing in the background..."

"I don't need at all that," Sydney laughed, finding his free hand and threading her fingers through his. "I just need you."

It was a bit startling to him. Impressing girls was what he did best. Girls liked that sort of thing. Well, most girls. He didn't really know how to deal with this girl, the one in his arms, the one he cared for more than he ever thought possible, the one who could bleed him dry if she wanted to...anything she'd ask for he'd give, the one saying things like all she needed was_ him_.

"I wish we could sleep together," she said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "You know...just sleep."

"We'll do all of it eventually." Adrian promised her. "Everything on earth."

"I'll hold you to that," she mumbled against his skin. "You should probably end the dream now."

He knew what she meant, but in that moment the words sounded unpleasantly foreboding. He shook free of that dark thought and gave her one last kiss. Then she was gone. Reality snapped back into place around him like an unwanted guest. He sighed. He stood up, jittery with anticipation. He _still _wasn't going to have a cigarette. He wanted to be able to tell his mother he'd quit smoking and he wasn't about to ruin that by giving in now. He still couldn't believe he was going to see her. He smiled, in spite of his dark mood. He tried to sleep eventually, but of course it never came. He was unable to relax, and he couldn't help but remain in a semi-paranoid state, like something big was on the horizon. He just hoped, whatever it was, it was something good.

* * *

_A/N: So I know this chapter was shorter and very character heavy but worry not, plot plot plot is to come! And I'll give you a hint. There was a bit of important foreshadowing in this chapter, but probably not where most would suspect it to be. I'll leave you with that my beautiful readers! As always, I love you all so much and thank you for reading my story and leaving such wonderful reviews!_


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